ABSTRACT
The telecommunications industry has been studied in American literature since the debate on the most appropriate market structure has found appropriate ground for development. The term ‘network externality’ stems from the well known economic concept of externality. In economic theory an externality is said to exist when an external person to a transaction is directly affected by the events of the transaction. The methodology used is the estimation of path analysis models, which have an important characteristic: relationships between variables must have an evident causal direction and this allows to disentangle the linkage between the connection and the performance index. The economic environment of the South, as is generally the case in less developed regions, is weak in terms of traditional crucial factors which stimulate the adoption of technological change. Telecommunications technologies are seen by the users as a way to achieve information and know how which are not present locally, and especially which are typical of advanced economic areas.
