TELECOMMUNICATIONS I

closed

The 1968-73 IBTE program amounts to about US$25 million equivalent, of which the foreign exchange component is estimated at US$16 million. The major part of the program consists of improvements in local and long distance telephone networks (US$9 million for each). An additional US$1 million is included for telegraph, telex and high frequency radio. The rest of the program is comprised of land and buildings, miscellaneous items, and provision for contingencies. The economic rate of return, as a measure of the economic progress made possible by better communication, is difficult to measure. However it may be argued that the prices which users are willing to pay for telecommunications services give at least a minimum indication of this value. The incremental rate of return on the proposed investment, valuing services at current tariffs, is 15 percent.