To identify the distribution of benefits that accrue from introducing communications technology in developing societies, two case studies were undertaken. The first case looks at telecommunications development in Algeria where telecommunications systems are being rapidly introduced to speed up industrialization and where a satellite system is in use to promote regional development. The second case study is of educational television in El Salvador. In both cases, it was found that the government was the primary beneficiary. The introduction of new technology led to a greater concentration of power, increased centralization, and a growing technocratic elite, but in neither case did the technology have a salutary effect on the problems of undereducation, underproduction, or national strife. (EMH)