This paper provides the reader with an overview of many of the issues related with telecentre initiatives around the world. It is intended to convey an understanding of the context in which the current CIDA Inc. and NECTEC telecentre projects are being undertaken in Thailand. While the review of recent telecentre literature conducted for this paper is by no means exhaustive, it does represent many of the issues facing telecentre project planners and proponents today. For the purposes of this paper, a telecentre is defined as a community based structure providing telephone service along with access to other information and communication technology (ICT) services, which may include fax, photocopier, computers, email and the world wide web (WWW).











