Technological progresses in the information, communication and telecommunication (ICT) industries and innovations telemedia industry have made telemedicine an increasingly viable health care delivery choice for emerging economies like South Africa. Simply stated telemedicine is the use of ICT technologies in conjunction with telemedia systems to provide health care services when distance separates the health professionals and patients. This paper discusses the challenges of managing diffusion of telemedicine technology in the rural areas of South Africa. Specific telemedicine project installations are discussed and recommendations provided to guide policy makers and health planners in South Africa. making video conferencing for face-face consultation using telemedicine impossible [3]. Communication networks can be broadly defined as an arrangement of hardware and software that allow users to exchange information [4]. The information exchange may be voices, sounds, graphics, pictures, video, text, or data, among users. Traditionally, the most common types of communication networks: the telephone network for voice transmission, and a computer network and peripherals. The advancement in communications and information technologies has resulted in new communication networks merging the capabilities of both telephone and computer networks into one network. This has also paved the way for development of high-speed networks that are able to transmit high quality, full-motion video.A communication network consists of a set of nodes that are interconnected to permit the exchange of information. These nodes can be classified as either terminal nodes, or as communication nodes. The terminal node has terminal entities such as phone sets, computers, printers, files servers, or video monitors, whereas the communication node has communication devices such as switches, routers, or repeaters. The terminal nodes generate or use information transmitted over the network while the communication nodes transport the information but do not generate or use the information [4].The nodes can be a few meters to many kilometers apart. To link the nodes a communication channel is used, which may be a transmission line, an optical fiber, a radio link, or a light wave in free space. For rural areas the nodes can be a considerable distance apart; for example, a network that can enable clinics and the local hospital to exchange information can have nodes that are more than 50 kilometers apart. The other problem with rural communication networks are the different types of terrains over which the communication equipment or cables have to be deployed. Most rural areas are characterized by mountainous terrains, valleys, forests and rivers, which can make the use of
