Two Alternative Macro-Based Approaches to Model Telecommunication Traffic

Analyses of interaction patterns across geographical space have always been at the forefront of interest in the spatial sciences. Although a wide variety of contexts have been examined, in this paper we shall restrict our attention to those situations in which patterns of communication are affected by the existence or imposition of barriers. According to Nijkamp, Rietveld and Salomon (1990), obstacles in space or time that impede the smooth transfer or free movement of information-related goods can be regarded as barriers to communication. For our present exploratory purpose, significant discontinuities in the flow intensity of communications may signify the existence of barriers. Their effects on communication patterns are generally nonlinear and often stepwise in character. They may not approximate traditional frictions of distance - which are mostly continuous in character.