Abstract
D.Ing. (Engineering Management)
Promotion of ICT usage in developing countries, even under rigorous government initia-
tives and policies, is a discouraging undertaking and a very di cult one. One of the
many challenges government of developing countries is facing in the promotion of ICT
adoption is how to incorporate a subsidy rate discount into a price model as expressed
in the following sentiments: Until now, USAASA has used very little of the money in
the USAF. It must justify its spending plans each year before it is given access to any of Information on how price a ects the number of users was generated by asking users
on how much the spent on internet usage.
The sensitivity of users was determined by asking users how many hours they spent
on the internet.
Analysis of the information gathered showed that there was a substantial amount of money
in USAASA and ZICTA co ers which was not utilized. Furthermore users expressed desire
to have their prices subsidized. In rural areas internet prices were more expensive, on
comparative terms, than those in the urban areas. Analysis of data or results concerning
the price and the number of users showed that there was a positive relationship between
the number of users and the price of the internet service. The relationship showed that
a low price attracted a lot of users, while a high price attracted few users or none at all.
The mathematical analysis of the pricing model proved that at a certain subsidy discount
rate and price sensitivity, the model was able to reach equilibrium while maximizing the
ISP's revenue. In conclusion the price of internet services for the information \have nots"
depend on the price sensitivity and the level of subsidy given by the government.
the funds". \Universal access of ICT services with particular reference to rural areas is
an issue that has been on the agenda of most countries in the whole world today. You
are aware that while some countries are currently e ectively extending services to rural
areas using various means, others have found this challenging and have ended up with
unutilized funds in the banks".
Subsidies, though seen as the means of promoting social and economic agendas in
developing countries, can create the tragedies associated with public resources usage or
something-for-nothing resources. Given a subsidy discount rate or a low price, consumers
usually anticipate a net bene t derived from free resources due to subsidy. Anticipation
of net a bene t from such resources may generate a damaging rush from consumers to
exploit the resource, which may result in the tragedy of the commons. On the contrary,
when no subsidy is given, consumers face no di erential between the perceived utility and
the price of the resource creating a no social and pecuniary bene t to users, as such very
few consumers or users will utilize the resource. The contribution this research develops
is as follows:
To show the extent of ICT usage patterns in developing countries.To determine why ICT usage in developing countries is low even under rigorous
government initiatives and policies.
To determine how price a ects the number of users using the internet resource.
To incorporate a subsidy discount rate in a price model for unserved or rural areas
of developing countries.
To proposes a subsidy driven pricing framework that helps both the internet service
providers and users to maximize their utilities and prevent the tragedies associated
with resource use i.e. the tragedy of the commons and the tragedy of the anti-
commons.
To apply a non-cooperative game theoretic model to investigate the con
ict between
ISPs and consumers or consumers in a heterogeneous communities i.e. the infor-
mation \haves" and \have-nots". We de ne utility-based decision rules for both
providers and users under varying prices and subsidy requirements. We provide a
decision model under a non-cooperative, incomplete-information game environment.
To investigates the properties of the NE (under di erent optimization rules) and to
study whether there exists an optimal solution to the game.
The basic hypothesis that this research addresses is: A pricing model, with correct
subsidy discount rate allows for better resource usage (preventing the tragedy of the
commons and anti-commons) and makes the attainment of the objective of \ICT access for
all" more likely. The methodology used for collecting statistical data was a combination of
qualitative and quantitative research methods. The purpose of research was to collect data
that would later be used to propose a pricing framework for heterogeneous communities.
The strategy was to use three important variables in the subsidy driven pricing model to
validate the hypothesis i.e. subsidy discount rate, the relationship between price and the
number of users and the sensitivity (elasticity of demand) of users towards price.
Incorporation of subsidy discount rate into the pricing model was driven by the
fact that institutional frameworks such as universal service and access agency of
South Africa (USAASA) and the Zambia information and communications tech-
nology authority (ZICTA) were sitting with unutilized universal service and access
fund (USAF). Additionally, users of internet services in underserviced areas of the
two countries advocated for subsidized prices towards internet provision.