Enhancing the Selection of Communication Technology for Rural Telecommunications: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Model

Rural Telecommunications planning in a developing country is a complex process that has to consider the various interrelationships in a rural sociotechnical system. A primary function of telecommunications planning is the selection or design of the most appropriate technologies for the particular rural application. However, the issues involved in the selection and deployment of rural communication technologies are not only technological, but are often complex and ‘messy’, cutting across various aspects of the rural society. Uncertainty and multiple conflicting objectives usually characterise the decision-making process in such an environment. This paper is concerned with the use of the Analytical Hierarchy Process as a suitable method of dealing with the qualitative and quantitative data in relation to conflicting objectives, in arriving at a consensus decision in a typical rural telecommunications planning situation, for the selection of the most appropriate access technology.