Innovative solutions for communication connectivity for not so privileged societies

The new millennium gets heralded with technological solutions for global connectivity. Telephony systems (public switched telephone networks, PSTN etc.) along with terrestrial cellular systems augmented by mobile satellite communication systems make it possible to have information transfer between any two points on the Earth. Though this reality has dawned on the developed world which has started enjoying communication connectivity at will, there are a large number of societies in the world where economic constraints impede ushering of the information era. The global information village concept to really fructify will require a different implementation paradigm for communication connectivity. We look at this scenario in the paper and suggest implementation of schemes which must be cost effective for the concerned population. We also advocate development of a society-dependent communication paradigm and suggest that the telecommunication market be driven by consumer demands in specific regions.