The Role of Telecenters in Rural ICT Development Part 1 More than 50% of the world population lives in rural

areas and in developing countries the proportion of rural population far exceeds that of their urban counter parts (UN, 2011). The rural population is subjected to very serious problems in terms of poverty, unemployment, lack of access to markets for their products and services, inadequate infrastructure, limited access to basic needs such as clean water, affordable healthcare, education etc. (Akumiah, 2007). Compared to their urban counterparts, access to modern technologies including ICT is also limited in rural areas (Molawa, 2009). In order for these people to come out of the current situtation, they must be empowered with new skills, better opportunities, new avenues for enhacing their skills and better markets for their products and services. Since the ICT can be used to overcome many of the barriers currently faced by these people, it is considered a great equalizer. ICT can be used to create new opportunities for the disadvantaged people by providing better access to access to information, educational training in computers and employment opportunities (Kuriyan & Kitner, 2009). In order to provider better ICT services to the rural population, both governmental and non governmental organizations have implemented several ICT projects throughout the world. One of the most common aspect of all these projects is the implementation of telecenters, when the projects are targetted towards the general population. Telecenters provide the access to ICT services at a common place in a selected region that is accessible to a wider range of the target group. Telecenters have been accepted as the most promising model for providing equitable access to ICT services at affordable cost to a larger audience leading all the development efforts targetted towards that group (Parkinson & Lauzon, 2008). Even the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) of the United Nations has recognized the telecenters as the best delivery model of achieving universal access to ICT at the lowest cost (Manner, 2004). The main features of the telecenters include providing the physical space and equipment, a supportive staff that often aims at welcoming to all, regardless of experience, and by frequently subsidizing the costs of service provision reducing the financial burdens faced by potential users. They also try to be more relevant to the communities they serve by developing information-based services in response to the needs of the community (Parkinson & Lauzon, 2008). In this section, we take an in depth look at various implementation of telecenters across the world with special reference to the factors affecting their sustainability, successes and failures.