Busy signal on info highway. (telecommunications problems in developing countries)

Travelers beware! If you are planning to use the global information superhighway, be prepared for potholes, barriers and detours.

When Vice President Al Gore announced the Clinton administration's plans for this project, his remarks were acclaimed at a world conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Telemmunications is an essential component of political, economic, social and cultural development" said Gore. "It fuels the global information society and economy which is rapidly transforming local, national and international life and, despite physical boundaries, is promoting better understanding between peoples."

But while the Western world routinely enjoys direct dialing, receives faxes and television programs from remote points of the globe and looks forward to computer hookups via Internet, the developing world yearns for a plain old telephone. When the telephone is installed, they pray daily that there will be a dial tone and that the receiver on the other end will be in service. Here are the grim facts:

* Two-thirds of the world's population have no access to telephone service.

* More than half of the world's population live in countries with less than one telephones for every 100 people.

* Three-fourths of the world's population live in countries with 10 or fewer telephones for every 100 people.

* Low-income countries have less than a 5 percent share of global telephone lines but have 55 percent of the world's population.

When the International Telecommunications Union, or ITU, reviewed this issue 10 years ago, it commented: "While telecommunications is taken for granted as a key factor ... in industrialized countries and as an engine of growth, in most developing countries the telecommunications system is not adequate even to sustain essential services. In many areas, there is no system at all." It proposed that by the year 2000, all humankind should be within easy reach of a telephone - that is, within walking distance.

Of course, the financial outlays would be enormous. The World Bank has estimated that $40 billion a year will be needed in the five-year period from 1995 to 1999 to build the networks in developing countries to meet international standards. In addition, some $10 billion to $15 billion is needed to modernize the networks in Eastern Europe. This amounts to a grand total of more than $210 billion, four times the level of spending during the 1970s and three times that during the 1980s.

Even though telecommunications operations have been profitable, with returns on capital of 10 to 20 percent, telecommunications entities have difficulty finding investment capital. Investors have been discouraged by management ineptness in developing countries, compounded by glaring problems in procurement. It cost $20,000 to add one extra telephone line in West Africa for reasons which the ITU says are "unclear."

International travelers are aware of the existing telecom barriers throughout the developing world. Telephones are usually out of order and take a long time to repair. In peak periods, because of poor maintenance and other problems, more than half of the calls fail to connect. Sophisticated users, when they succeed in getting a connection, keep it open all day, denying everyone else the opportunity to communicate.

Such technological glitches, which can be corrected, are compounded by political and social differences. As an example, for years the neighboring states of Israel and Jordan would not allow the use of existing telephone lines that connected these countries. Now that they have made their peace, their citizens now can communicate with one another. However, in many parts of the world, areas remain isolated because of political and social differences.

Advocates for the global information superhighway proclaim the wonders of satellites, fiber optics, data networks, cellular phones and interactive video, as well as the miracles of the computer age. Their enthusiasm is justified, but should be confined to a small part of the globe - the United States, Western Europe, Japan and pockets of industrial growth. Two-thirds of the world's population - the telecom "have nots" - win continue to read about these developments while they yearn for the good old telephone.

Leonard H. Marks, a former assistant U.S. attorney general and Watergate special prosecution lawyer, is an entertainment lawyer.