Product details

Datacom is one of the first ''Internet Service Provider'' companies to be started in Mongolia. The company was sponsored in part by the Pan Asia Networking (PAN) initiative, a project under the auspices of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian Crown Corporation. IDRC believed that an effective way of promoting third-world economic development was through the development of Information Technology infrastructure. Datacom was PAN''s first major project, so the PAN initiative and the IDRC had a lot riding on its success. Development of data communications and the Internet in Mongolia was especially challenging given the rudimentary nature of telecommunications in the country. The decision maker in the case is faced with questions of how to expand Datacom''s service offerings following its initial venture into Internet services. Wireless communications and satellites provide a way around some of the obstacles, but pose other challenges in terms of cost and know-how. A technical note (''9A99E010'') on Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) is available as a supplement to this case. There is a simplified Chinese version available ''9A97EC11''.