The possibility of observing collective effects of electrons and holes in InP under intense optical irradiation from GaAs lasers is examined. At 2°K, the exciton density at which a postulated Bose‐Einstein condensation might occur is 1.3×1015cm−3. It is shown that at this density another collective effect (shielding of the Coulomb potential) may cause excitons to dissociate. However, the criterion for exciton dissociation is too crude to resolve this question. The requisite light intensity to observe the effects discussed is estimated to be ∼5–100 W/cm2, whereas intensities ∼104W/cm2are available over a spot with diameter 0.1 mm.