Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of acronyms and abbreviations -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Executive summary -- Chapter 1 Introduction: Joining the information society -- Purpose -- Background -- Research issues -- Methodology -- Key concepts -- Structure -- Chapter 2 ICTs in Africa: The landscape for growing telecentres -- Introduction -- ICTs in Africa: Context and background -- ICT equipment and other contextual factors -- Toward universal service: Telecentres and public access -- Definition and development of telecentres -- Glimpses from the literature -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 Timbuktu telecentre, Mali -- Telecommunications context -- Timbuktu -- Findings -- Sustainability -- Summary and conclusion -- Chapter 4 Telecentres in Mozambique -- Telecommunications context -- Telecentre context -- Telecentre locations -- Profile of users -- Equipment and services offered -- Management, ownership, and sustainability -- Conclusion and recommendations -- Chapter 5 Telecentres in Uganda -- Telecommunications context -- Telecentre context -- Findings -- Access -- Service delivery -- Impediments to use -- Relevance -- Ownership, management, and sustainability -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6 Telecentres in South Africa -- Telecommunication context -- Study sites -- Findings -- Relevance -- Ownership, management, and sustainability -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7 Telecentres in Senegal -- Telecommunications context -- Context of telecentres -- Findings -- Relevance -- Management, ownership, and sustainability -- Summary and conclusion -- Chapter 8 Conclusion -- The political, socio-economic, and technological contexts -- Access: Emerging pictures -- Impediments to use -- Relevance of telecentres -- Ownership, management, and sustainability -- Conclusion: Whither community telecentres? -- Appendices -- Bibliography.