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ICT Policy For Networked Society - Ericsson

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<strong>ICT</strong> POLICY for the<br />

<strong>Networked</strong><br />

<strong>Society</strong><br />

Progressing a transformative <strong>ICT</strong> <strong>Policy</strong> Approach


index<br />

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5<br />

The role of <strong>ICT</strong> in the society and the economy................................................................................................................................... 6<br />

The emergence of the networked society ................................................................................................................................................ 9<br />

Why regulate? .........................................................................................................................................................................................................10<br />

What ends in mind? - Regulatory objectives .......................................................................................................................................12<br />

How to regulate? ....................................................................................................................................................................................................16<br />

Key global <strong>ICT</strong> policy issues ...........................................................................................................................................................................17<br />

- Spectrum Management ................................................................................................................................................................................18<br />

- Network regulation ...........................................................................................................................................................................................18<br />

- Convergence ........................................................................................................................................................................................................18<br />

- Media/content regulation.............................................................................................................................................................................19<br />

- Copyright ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................19<br />

- Information Management ........................................................................................................................................................................... 20<br />

Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21<br />

References and suggestions for further reading ............................................................................................................................... 22<br />

3


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<br />

Over the last 30 years a number of different policy<br />

and regulatory approaches have been used to cope<br />

with the challenges encountered at the time. <strong>For</strong><br />

instance, many countries have moved away from stateowned<br />

telecommunications monopolies and have<br />

adopted liberalization and deregulation to embrace<br />

a market-based regulatory approach that relies on<br />

competition policy.<br />

No regulatory framework (why, what and how to regulate)<br />

comes with a lifetime warranty. Historically, we have<br />

heard calls for less regulation, better regulation, more<br />

equitable regulation, smarter regulation, and now for<br />

more holistic regulation that focuses on the cumulative<br />

impact of regulation. Each of these calls serves as a<br />

reminder that technology moves faster than regulation<br />

and hence there is a continuous need for keeping<br />

regulatory frameworks aligned with technological,<br />

business, consumer, market, and societal realities.<br />

In this context of constant change, it is worthwhile to<br />

remind ourselves that the networked infrastructure that<br />

blends computing and communication is the largest<br />

construction project in human history. [i] It is also useful<br />

to take a “helicopter view” of the transformative role of<br />

information and communications technology, “<strong>ICT</strong>”, in<br />

society and its role in accelerating socio-economic wellbeing.<br />

There is an opportunity cost of a narrow or onesided<br />

policy framework that does not adapt to market<br />

realities and stimulate the contribution that commercial<br />

stakeholders can bring to society. [ii] The strategic<br />

benefits of a prudent, forward-looking <strong>ICT</strong> policy can be<br />

put at risk if policy-makers fail to appreciate the crucial<br />

role of <strong>ICT</strong> in society.<br />

We are at an inflection point of an <strong>ICT</strong>-led transformation<br />

of the society we know today. A new productive shift<br />

in economies is expected with the rise of a networked<br />

society. Developing the strategic capability to master<br />

this change in the most advantageous fashion must be<br />

the key priority for policy-makers. Minimizing the gap<br />

between technology and regulation must take center<br />

stage on the agenda of policy makers. The absolute as<br />

well as relative success of societies and economies of<br />

this largest human project in our history is substantially<br />

determined by policy makers and regulators.<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong> would like to share its thoughts and ideas on<br />

some of the key elements of a progressive and prudent<br />

future policy and regulatory framework. Nations that will<br />

benefit the most from an <strong>ICT</strong>-led societal transformation<br />

will be those that adhere to a transformative <strong>ICT</strong> policy<br />

approach that is holistic and not sector-specific i.e. a<br />

converged regulatory framework. This relative change<br />

of focus in policy approach fundamentally reflects the<br />

desire of societies and nations to maximize their national<br />

competitiveness of their industries and public sector.<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong> hopes that this document can be a source of<br />

insight for advancing current policy realities of societies,<br />

economies, businesses, cities and citizens.<br />

5


ThE ROLE Of <strong>ICT</strong> IN<br />

ThE SOCIETY ANd<br />

ThE ECONOMY<br />

A society that has no wheel and no writing is limited in<br />

what it can achieve. Technology has the ability to remove<br />

limitations on individual, organizational and social<br />

action. Some technological advancements not only<br />

transform economies but also lead to structural changes<br />

affecting production, distribution, communication and<br />

consumption in societies. The capacity for structural<br />

change is a highly valuable skill for a nation. It can be<br />

applied in order to stimulate development and then to<br />

preserve and increase the gains as the context and<br />

opportunities change.[iii] The societal skill to master<br />

change is a key strategic capability, as it shapes<br />

competitiveness at the national level. It defines the<br />

capacity of an economy to shift economic activities and<br />

hence output to more productive activities which in turn<br />

can generate higher levels of real wages.[iv]<br />

<strong>ICT</strong> enhances productivity and is a key source of economic<br />

growth, job creation, and new business creation which<br />

leads to an increased tax base. Understanding <strong>ICT</strong>-<br />

induced economic growth beyond the stimulus caused<br />

6<br />

by direct <strong>ICT</strong> investment is crucial. Some important<br />

effects of <strong>ICT</strong> investments on productivity that have<br />

been identified are: [v]<br />

• Improvements in human capital: <strong>ICT</strong> creates demand<br />

for higher skilled labor and eliminates simple and<br />

tedious tasks.<br />

• Multifactor productivity growth, which includes the<br />

impact of intangible investments such as<br />

organizational changes, new distribution and<br />

production processes, and new methods of doing<br />

business related to the use of <strong>ICT</strong> technology.<br />

• <strong>For</strong> every 10 percentage point increase in broadband<br />

penetration the isolated economic effect on GDP<br />

growth is around 1% of GDP, with estimates varying<br />

between 0.5% - 2%.<br />

• <strong>For</strong> every 1,000 additional broadband users, around<br />

80 jobs are created, with estimates varying between<br />

20 and 130.<br />

• Doubling the average attained broadband speed for<br />

an economy increases GDP by 0.3% points.<br />

A n et w or ked cit y can be seen as a combin at ion of<br />

t h r ee pr in cipal societ y sph er es w h er e ict is an<br />

en abl er f or t r ipl e bot t om l in e devel opmen t<br />

Figure 1: A simplified overview of the interdependencies between <strong>ICT</strong> and its effects on society<br />

Improved<br />

economic<br />

output<br />

Energy<br />

consumption<br />

Knowledge<br />

intensity<br />

Effect on<br />

education<br />

City<br />

Effect on<br />

healthcare<br />

Social<br />

interaction<br />

Attraction of<br />

talent<br />

Green<br />

development<br />

Traffic<br />

management<br />

Improved<br />

governmental<br />

finances<br />

Income level<br />

Attraction of<br />

capital<br />

Citizen<br />

Change in<br />

consumer behavior<br />

<strong>Networked</strong><br />

<strong>Society</strong><br />

Attractiveness<br />

Increased usage of <strong>ICT</strong><br />

Improved public<br />

sector efficiency<br />

Emission<br />

levels<br />

Improved private<br />

sector efficiency<br />

Productivity<br />

Employment<br />

Creativity/<br />

innovation<br />

Entertainment<br />

Work place<br />

flexibility<br />

Illustrative and simplified<br />

Change in<br />

industry<br />

mix<br />

Self<br />

fulfillment Business<br />

Private<br />

sector<br />

growth<br />

Investments<br />

in <strong>ICT</strong><br />

Source: <strong>Ericsson</strong> <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> Index 2011


The 21st century is the first digital century! Digitization<br />

is present in all aspects of our lives, including:<br />

communication, information, collaboration, advertising<br />

and media, as well as in retail commerce and banking,<br />

e-commerce, e-/m-payments, and social networking<br />

The digital information revolution is opening up<br />

an amazing array of information for people to get<br />

access to, particularly through the Internet. But to<br />

see the information revolution as principally about<br />

the ability to more easily access text or video<br />

information is to only see the tip of the iceberg.<br />

Information access on the Internet is an amazing<br />

innovation, but the full breadth and depth of the<br />

digital information revolution goes far beyond<br />

Web surfing, for the digital information revolution<br />

is extending to virtually all aspects of our lives, all<br />

parts of society and all organizations. It is only now,<br />

when a vast array of information is in digital form<br />

and when it is far easier and cheaper to create,<br />

manipulate, organize, transmit, store and act on<br />

information that we can truly speak of being in the<br />

digital information age. [vi]<br />

Digitization is a product created by <strong>ICT</strong> industries and<br />

is the key driver of convergence. Wireless and fixed<br />

broadband access is the prime enabler of convergence<br />

as it sets the fundamental conditions and boundaries that<br />

determine how we interact with digital information.[vii]<br />

Within just a few years we have moved from a<br />

communications system that provided us individually with<br />

a mere trickle of information (a few kilobits), to a stream<br />

(megabits over broadband), and soon to a veritable flood<br />

(gigabits of ultra broadband communications). It is the<br />

equivalent of moving from horses, to trains, to personal<br />

automobiles, to personal jets all within a few years. [viii]<br />

Societal transformation led by <strong>ICT</strong> is not just the tale<br />

of the prosperous states doing better. Most developing<br />

countries view the increased use of <strong>ICT</strong> as a critical<br />

tool in their efforts to eradicate poverty, enhance<br />

human development, and achieve the U.N. Millennium<br />

Development Goals. Recognizing this untapped potential,<br />

infrastructure initiatives and development strategies<br />

incorporating <strong>ICT</strong> are being increasingly promoted<br />

and launched. [ix] This movement is known as <strong>ICT</strong> for<br />

development, <strong>ICT</strong>4D. Access to <strong>ICT</strong> and particularly the<br />

Internet can provide an even bigger boost to economic<br />

growth than access to mobile voice service and simple<br />

data such as SMS. However, to make the most of the<br />

Internet, users need to have a certain level of education<br />

and literacy. The Internet’s effect on development may be<br />

greater in the long term, but is unlikely to be as sudden<br />

and dramatic as that of the spread of mobile phones in<br />

the first decade of this century.<br />

Throughout the history of telecommunications, mobile<br />

communication has made a bigger difference to the<br />

lives of more people, more quickly, than any previous<br />

technology. [x] What GSM has done for connecting<br />

voice globally will be repeated by 3G and LTE mobile<br />

technologies for the Internet to truly become a global<br />

network for all. In this sense, there is no contradiction<br />

between these two technologies. Rather, they are<br />

reinforcing each other. The mobile Internet will empower<br />

billions of new users who will not otherwise have the<br />

opportunity to use the Internet. It will create new digital<br />

markets and wealth, enable new business models and<br />

innovation, and enable new forms of social activity and<br />

organization.<br />

7


Understanding the effects and benefits of <strong>ICT</strong> on nations<br />

has been the standard way of analyzing the impact of<br />

<strong>ICT</strong> for decades. However, increasingly the impact of<br />

<strong>ICT</strong> must be understood within a city, business and<br />

citizen framework because doing so allows for more<br />

meaningful comparisons. [xi] If we take the example of<br />

a city framework we can observe the following. Firstly<br />

cities represent a more universally comparable context<br />

compared to the more commonly used nation based<br />

frameworks. Comparing London with Shanghai makes<br />

more sense than comparing the UK with China. Hence<br />

a city focus provides opportunities for a faster learning<br />

and global best practice sharing. Secondly, already<br />

today more than 50% of the world’s population lives<br />

in urban areas and by 2030 the number is expected to<br />

grow above 60%. There is a steady stream of people<br />

moving from the countryside to the cities. The global<br />

urban population increases by over 5 million people<br />

every month, equivalent to the size of Miami or Sydney.<br />

Today more than 20 cities in the world are classified as<br />

8<br />

mega cities with more than 10 million inhabitants. By<br />

the next decade at least eight additional mega cities<br />

will emerge, with half of them located in the developing<br />

countries. [xii]<br />

No matter the path of economic development<br />

a country has chosen, urbanization remains an<br />

inevitable outcome of this effort across the world. [xiii]<br />

Increased urbanization leads to increasing influence for<br />

cities. According to McKinsey Global Institute, the 600<br />

largest cities account for more than 50% of the world’s<br />

GDP but only 22% of the global population. At the<br />

same time it is the medium-sized cities with populations<br />

ranging from 150 thousand to 10 million that are<br />

predicted to account for the largest growth in terms of<br />

GDP up to 2025. This highlights the fact that it is not only<br />

the mega cities that will drive development but many big<br />

cities will take part in shaping society going forward.


ThE EMERgENCE Of ThE<br />

NETwORkEd SOCIETY<br />

Today’s mobile and digital life is expanding into more<br />

areas of society and business. We now stand on the<br />

brink of transformative innovation opportunities across<br />

industries, public service and private life. The digital<br />

revolution that we today can see all around us is based<br />

on the rise of the Internet, broadband, advanced digital<br />

devices and applications. These have given rise to digital<br />

natives and digital organizations that have adopted and<br />

integrated the tools facilitated by the digital revolution.<br />

As a result, they have quite distinct expectations and<br />

behavior compared to their analogue peers.<br />

Over the coming years, <strong>ICT</strong> infrastructure performance<br />

will increase rapidly, fuelled by technology advances. This<br />

will bring new opportunities for people and business to<br />

create, learn, sustain and innovate leading to a positive<br />

impact on our world. <strong>Ericsson</strong> calls this new emerging<br />

society “The <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong>”.<br />

In the <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> people, knowledge,<br />

relationships, information and things are networked<br />

for the enhancement of life, businesses and society.<br />

In the <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> the majority of the world’s<br />

population will have grown up with a culture defined by<br />

openness, sharing, networked production/organization,<br />

peer production [see box 1 for more information], and<br />

global self-organization. This will fundamentally change<br />

the way in which we orchestrate capabilities in society to<br />

innovate, to collaborate, to create goods and services, to<br />

govern, and to sustain. Once this social change begins,<br />

it cannot be reversed.<br />

Our world today is at an inflection point. Today people,<br />

enterprises, markets and societies are all benefiting<br />

from real-time connectivity and networking enabled<br />

by broadband. Today, connectivity to the network<br />

everywhere is something taken for granted. Digitization<br />

extends into all possible areas of society and mobility<br />

supports interactions whenever and wherever desired.<br />

With the practices of today’s digital life expanding<br />

into more and more areas of society and business the<br />

<strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> will take shape and benefit from<br />

fundamental transformation across industries, public<br />

services and in private life.<br />

Information and communications technology is<br />

converging into a single “social infrastructure” critical<br />

for everyday life and for the continued innovation<br />

to build prosperity in the <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong>. Thus<br />

it becomes a common ‘flat’ infrastructure in which<br />

differences in technology are largely invisible either<br />

because they are not relevant to users or because<br />

the infrastructure has an inherent ability to<br />

choose the ‘best’ technology for each purpose.<br />

It adapts to the situation to which the networking<br />

experience currently relates. It provides seamless<br />

connectivity, and application and content<br />

“cross-over”. It minimizes distinction between<br />

different devices and different usage contexts. Services<br />

and content can deliver the ‘feeling’ of seamlessness,<br />

simplicity and comprehensive reach to end-users.<br />

As individuals across the globe today we collectively<br />

share real-time experiences of a digital world hardly<br />

known just a decade ago. The new ways we have<br />

adopted for interaction, sharing of experiences and<br />

knowledge, as well as for sharing innovation are now set<br />

to fundamentally change the way society evolves.<br />

In the <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> things will be made differently,<br />

created with higher efficiency and productivity with new<br />

and enriched experiences. Key traits of the <strong>Networked</strong><br />

<strong>Society</strong> are continuous transformation driven by<br />

collaboration and creativity. Creativity originates in the<br />

interaction between people and businesses and takes<br />

different shapes and forms as it is expressed in the<br />

society we live in. The information age is an input, and<br />

not the outcome along the road towards the transition<br />

to a knowledge society. The <strong>Networked</strong> society is a<br />

knowledge society that knows how to use information.<br />

9


Internal | 2012-03-02 | Page 2<br />

10<br />

BOX 1. NETwOrkEd PrOduCTION & OrgANIzATION: - PrOduCTION NETwOrkS vS. PEEr<br />

PrOduCTION whAT IS ThE dIFFErENCE? [XIv]<br />

In the academic fields of economics and sociology,<br />

networks came to mean a mode of governance that<br />

is different from managerial hierarchies or markets.<br />

The concept of networked organization emerged<br />

within the transactions-cost economics (Coase 1937,<br />

1960 and Williamson 1975, 1985) and was originally<br />

intended to explain the organization of economic<br />

production. The sociologist Walter Powell argued in<br />

a famous paper the break with the transaction-cost<br />

theory. Powell concluded that networks constitute a<br />

distinctive “organizational form” or type of governance<br />

that was neither market nor hierarchy. A network<br />

is a relationship rather than a transaction and it is<br />

based on long term bonds of reciprocity and trust<br />

among economic actors. A more recent, Internetrelated<br />

argument about networked production starts<br />

with the presence of ubiquitous, powerful networked<br />

information technology (Paul Adler, Yochai Benkler). It<br />

then continues, with the availability of this technology<br />

that significantly reduces costs and magnifies the<br />

whY REgULATE?<br />

A regulatory framework consists typically of three key<br />

elements as depicted in figure 2. Its parts aim to answer<br />

the following three questions;<br />

• Why Regulate? – The policy rationale and legitimacy<br />

of interventions.<br />

• With what ends in mind? – What regulatory<br />

objectives and desired outcomes are being pursued?<br />

• How to regulate? – The matching of regulatory<br />

instruments to regulatory objectives and choosing of<br />

implementation strategies.<br />

Figure 2: key elements of a regulatory framework<br />

hOw<br />

regulatory<br />

Framework<br />

whAT<br />

why<br />

Source; <strong>Ericsson</strong>, inspired by weatherill, Better regulation, Oxford<br />

2007 and Prosser, The regulatory Enterprise, Oxford, 2010.<br />

scope of establishing relationships based on the<br />

reciprocal benefits of association, i.e. peer production.<br />

Yochai Benkler, the author of The Wealth of Networks,<br />

has a concept of peer production which is very similar<br />

to Powell’s networked organization. But there is one<br />

important difference. While both recognize the benefits<br />

of reciprocity obtained without a market or a hierarchy,<br />

the roles of trust and depth/strength in relationships<br />

between actors significantly differ between them.<br />

In peer production, relationships are mostly based<br />

on relatively anonymous and automated encounters<br />

with no particular expectation of trust and long-lived<br />

relationships. Trust provides a level of certainty in<br />

planning, execution, performance, cost control (and<br />

hence liability) and above all in receiving cash and noncash<br />

compensation. This single but vital difference<br />

is extremely significant in understanding what to<br />

expect from networked and peered productions or<br />

organizations.<br />

As a starting point one can assume that wealthy<br />

economies can be developed under a variety of policy<br />

and regulatory frameworks. [xv] These economies meet<br />

a threshold of institutional quality that ensures political<br />

and economic stability, reasonable state capacity,<br />

enforcement of property rights and contracts, sufficient<br />

provision of public goods and limits on government<br />

predation and corruption. Weak institutions are not only<br />

an inequitable burden on citizens—they also act as<br />

brake on economic growth by undermining incentives<br />

in the private sector. [xvi] This important aspect of policy<br />

making is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead the<br />

paper assumes that the institutional threshold has<br />

been reached and that legitimacy of policy makers and<br />

regulators is established. This means that the state can<br />

identify relevant regulatory approaches, understand<br />

their key objectives, highlight the importance of<br />

implementation and identify key industry issues. In<br />

present circumstances, the state will do this in the context<br />

of <strong>ICT</strong> policy and will master all necessary elements with<br />

the aims to improve the capability of society to make the<br />

most of the <strong>ICT</strong> led societal transformation with the aim<br />

to maximize the associated expected net benefits.


<strong>For</strong> this paper, we assume that regulatory objectives<br />

and desired outcomes of an intervention are enough to<br />

legitimize the cost of intervention. In other words, the<br />

justification rests on the premise that regulators are<br />

doing the right thing. In addition, one can argue that<br />

legitimacy can be further enhanced if interventions are<br />

effective. That is, they are working as intended and deliver<br />

an adequate net benefit (the cost of an intervention is<br />

sufficiently lower than its benefits).<br />

A related why question is “why” the “why-regulate”<br />

changes over time? There are a number of explanations<br />

[see box 2 for more information] in the academic field of<br />

political economy that aim to answer this question. The<br />

four most recognized theories are variants on: power,<br />

technological determinism, ideas and domestic policy.<br />

All four explanations have important elements but also<br />

have their individual fallings. [xvii]<br />

Recognized economic and social benefits of an <strong>ICT</strong>-led<br />

societal transformation as well as the expected benefits<br />

BOX 2. POlITICAl ECONOmIC ThEOry - why ThE why ChANgES OvEr TImE?<br />

Power: theory focuses on the distribution of global power<br />

of a single power or a power club. The theory puts<br />

focus on the level of alignment of interests, the<br />

incentives and the ability of a power or power club<br />

to advance achievements. The power theory does<br />

not explain what the powerful seeks in terms of<br />

outcomes nor does it recognize the importance of<br />

the decision making process affecting the outcomes<br />

as such.<br />

Technology: is the polar opposite of the power theory.<br />

It assumes that technology has a logic built into it<br />

that dictates the path forward. Important shifts in<br />

technology frontiers alter the costs and benefits for<br />

all stakeholders concerning market opportunities,<br />

competition and regulation. This approach has been<br />

critiqued to be too deterministic and missing the<br />

important role of the society and governments in the<br />

adoption (and rejection) process of new technologies.<br />

Ideas: some stakeholders shape the collective agenda<br />

regarding ideas about cause and effect and about<br />

desirable outcomes. Some ideas emerge and evolve to<br />

of the rising <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> presented above, not<br />

only provide a strong socio-econonmical but also a<br />

technological based justification, i.e. why the whyregulate<br />

must change in a certain direction.<br />

This absolute necessity to continuously adopt regulatory<br />

frameworks as new technology advancements change<br />

the context is also captured in Manuell Castells work:<br />

The dilemma of technological determinism is<br />

probably a false problem, since technology is<br />

society and society cannot be understood or<br />

represented without its technological tools. Yet,<br />

if society does not determine technology, it can,<br />

mainly through the state, suffocate its development.<br />

Or alternatively, again mainly by state intervention,<br />

it can embark on an accelerated process of<br />

technological modernization able to change the<br />

fate of economy and social well-being in a few<br />

years. [xviii]<br />

become powerful enough to sharply redirect policy, goals<br />

and outcomes, or in the words of the French poet Victor<br />

Hugo: “there is nothing more powerful than an idea<br />

whose time has come”. A rights based regulatory<br />

approach is one good example of an idea based<br />

theory explaining shift in policy frameworks.<br />

Domestic politics typically focuses on interest-group<br />

politics or bureaucratic politics. The former puts<br />

emphasis on the privileged position of concentrated<br />

interests because they are well organized and have<br />

higher stakes and hence incentives in shaping<br />

the outcomes compared to the interests of other<br />

stakeholders. The latter, also known as the publicchoice<br />

theory, views public officials as careerpromoting<br />

and power enhancing entrepreneurs who<br />

strive to further they private agendas. Policies and<br />

outcomes reflect conflicts and cooperation among<br />

the bureaucratic players. Both these two theories<br />

are challenged on the basis that top politicians seek<br />

effective control over office and their governments and<br />

need to respond in a competitive election process to<br />

the interests of voters.<br />

11


whAT ENdS IN MINd?<br />

Regulatory objectives.<br />

A number of distinct regulatory approaches have<br />

emerged over time, each with a focus on specific<br />

regulatory goals with certain desired outcomes:<br />

• Market efficiency<br />

• Public interest<br />

• Rights based<br />

• <strong>Networked</strong> governance<br />

• Transformative<br />

It should be noted that in most cases regulators do not<br />

typically pursue just one regulatory objective at any<br />

given point in time, which means that regulators aim<br />

to balance a number of regulatory objectives within a<br />

specific framework such as telecom regulation.<br />

A market efficiency-oriented regulatory approach is<br />

primarily based on competition policy that is focused on<br />

promotion of consumer welfare through maximization<br />

of market efficiency (allocative [xix], productive [xx] and<br />

dynamic [xxi]) and maximization of consumer choice<br />

and thus consumer sovereignty [see box 3 for more<br />

information on efficient markets]. What is understood<br />

with efficiency is the transfer from suppliers to consumers<br />

of qualitative improvements and cost reductions without<br />

12<br />

BOX 3. A PErFECTly EFFICIENT mArkET<br />

A perfectly efficient market is one in which:<br />

a) Consumers and producers have access to all<br />

possible relevant information to base their<br />

decisions on, i.e. market failure ‘information<br />

asymmetry’ is absent.<br />

b) Prices reflect all costs including costs to third<br />

parties, i.e. the market failure ‘externality’ is absent.<br />

c) Firms cannot profitably charge a price in excess of<br />

‘marginal’ cost, i.e. the market failure ‘market<br />

power’ is absent.<br />

d) There is an absence of ‘public goods/services’,<br />

i.e. the market does not have to provide goods<br />

and services whose marginal cost is zero and<br />

whose enjoyment is impossible to exclude<br />

individuals from.<br />

e) There are no ‘missing markets’, i.e. there are no<br />

goods and services absent from the market whose<br />

cost of provision is less than consumers’<br />

willingness to pay.<br />

restricting the market. [xxii] In addition, keeping markets<br />

open to new entry, competition policy can also be seen<br />

as a form of accountability for the exercise of economic<br />

power and hence maximization of consumer choice.<br />

However, opening up markets for more competition<br />

(market liberalization) or keeping markets open to the<br />

extent of protecting competitors, can also restrict<br />

consumer choice, by ending cross-subsidies which have<br />

supported uneconomic services, customer segments or<br />

regions. Liberalization of the fixed telecom market that<br />

started around 1990 constituted a move away from a<br />

public interest regulatory approach to a market efficiency<br />

regulatory approach. The introduction of multiple mobile<br />

spectrum licenses rather than relying on an exclusive<br />

license arrangement and liberalization of fixed telecom<br />

market are two examples of how the market efficiency<br />

approach has entered the grounds of <strong>ICT</strong> policy.<br />

A public interest-oriented policy approach argues that<br />

there are serious limitations to a market efficiency<br />

approach as the latter one treats all citizens equally and<br />

views all citizens solely in their capacity as consumers.<br />

Since we do not come to market as equals, our market<br />

power as consumers is determined by our position in<br />

the existing distribution of wealth and information.<br />

Since no market is perfectly efficient (all markets are<br />

exposed to some degree of market failure(s)) the case<br />

of a regulatory intervention cannot rest only on the<br />

prospect that an intervention will yield an economic<br />

benefit (increased efficiency of the market in question).<br />

A consideration to intervene must also factor in that a<br />

regulatory intervention has a cost and a probability of<br />

regulatory failure. Only when an intervention to correct<br />

a market failure is expected to yield net economic<br />

benefit (benefit of intervention being greater than<br />

the cost of intervention adjusted for probability of a<br />

regulatory failure) should an intervention be considered.<br />

In other words, identification of a market failure should<br />

not lead to the assumption that regulatory failure is<br />

less likely or less costly. This ought to be an open and<br />

empirical question, which needs analysis on a case by<br />

case basis. [xxiii]


This fact determines our ability to satisfy our preferences<br />

in a market. The public interest approach is a move away<br />

from market-based principles and may also imply a<br />

move away from competition policy and a loss of market<br />

efficiency. [xxiv] This move towards increased social<br />

solidarity is based on the idea that the state has a duty<br />

to ensure equal treatment of citizens irrespective of their<br />

economic resources. In <strong>ICT</strong> policy and regulation this<br />

approach is manifested by regulatory interventions that<br />

attempt to ensure equal access for all consumers (urban<br />

and rural) to vital services by requiring geographically<br />

averaged tariffs, rural subsidies, uniform standards of<br />

services across all served areas and requirements on a<br />

certain level of population service coverage.<br />

<strong>Society</strong> values also other aspects apart from simple<br />

maximization of consumer welfare. <strong>Society</strong>-building<br />

relies on the promotion of culture, social values and<br />

national identity. In countries such as Canada, most<br />

of Europe and parts of Asia Pacific like Australia and<br />

New Zealand, regulation of broadcasting services is to<br />

some or a significant extent based on a public service<br />

media principle. Public service is typically associated<br />

with privileged access to scarce resources, limits to<br />

competition and privileged access to state aid financing<br />

or public ownership. Support for a strong public service<br />

media continues to prevail in some jurisdictions while<br />

in others it is almost completely rejected on the claims<br />

of an inefficient monopoly and preference for a market<br />

based solution.<br />

A rights-based regulatory approach is not premised on<br />

a collective view but examines the individual’s rights in<br />

a society or market. The regulatory rationale to protect<br />

some basic rights is less familiar than the competition<br />

or public interest-based rationale. The rights-based<br />

approach starts with the premise that all individuals<br />

have unconditional rights to certain levels of protection<br />

and that some risks may be unacceptable whatever<br />

their benefits. [xxv] The rights-based approach to<br />

regulation can be encountered in a number of different<br />

policy domains, such as human rights, occupational<br />

health and safety, and environmental rights regulation.<br />

There are also private property rights, limitations on<br />

regulators’ rights to expropriate private assets and<br />

procedural rights which are concerned with how public<br />

authorities, regulators, and courts operate. [xxvi]<br />

It is also fair to say that there is some element of overlap<br />

between the public interest and the rights-based<br />

regulatory approaches, particularly in access regimes.<br />

<strong>ICT</strong> policy has a number of touch points with a rightsbased<br />

approach; issues such as data privacy, the right to<br />

be forgotten, net neutrality and open Internet concerns all<br />

contain elements of a rights-based regulatory approach.<br />

The networked governance approach is increasingly<br />

gaining attention especially its applicability in an<br />

international context [see box 4 for more information on<br />

policy challenges in a <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong>]. The main idea<br />

with this approach is to find ways to bridge the gaps<br />

between national institutions and the growing number<br />

of policy issues that are becoming global in their nature.<br />

The main focus of this approach is procedural but since<br />

it is also context specific, such as trade- or Internetspecific,<br />

it will also incorporate certain objectives and<br />

desired outcomes, such as harmonization, coherence,<br />

etc. Governance networks combine state and non-state<br />

actors and procedural means for resolving issues to<br />

BOX 4. POlICy ANd rEgulATOry ChAllENgES IN ThE NETwOrkEd SOCIETy [XXvII]<br />

• The global nature of connectivity and the nature of<br />

borderless communication make imposition of<br />

national or territorial interventions more costly.<br />

• The large growth in volume of data communications<br />

and transactions overwhelms the capacity of a<br />

traditional regulatory process in terms of the<br />

ability to collect, process and respond to events<br />

and issues.<br />

• The distributed nature of control, participation and<br />

authority of global communications and connectivity<br />

challenges the territorial approach and sovereignty<br />

of nation states in policy and regulations.<br />

• The interactive nature of the networked society with<br />

dramatically lowered costs and increased capability<br />

for group action will result in new forms of<br />

collaboration and organization of activities,<br />

including those relevant for policy and regulation<br />

(formulation, implementation and enforcement).<br />

13


overcome some of the limitations of governance based<br />

on territorial sovereignty. From an <strong>ICT</strong> perspective,<br />

the ITU’s World Radio Conference, CITEL, APT-WG,<br />

CEPT, ICANN and WTO are examples of networked<br />

governance approaches. From a nation state perspective<br />

a networked governance approach to policy and<br />

regulation contains elements such as multi-stakeholder<br />

participation in consultations, forums that seek to learn<br />

and reach industry consensus, and increased attention<br />

to co-regulation and voluntary industry codes of praxis.<br />

In other words this approach is also applicable in a<br />

territorial context.<br />

A transformative policy is an approach that focuses on<br />

transformation of an industry or a society at large and more<br />

specifically on the conduct of stakeholders in that process<br />

[see box 5 on how innovation and forces of competitive<br />

economy transform firms, industries and societies].<br />

It typically focuses on supply side policy issues i.e.<br />

the stimulation of innovations, R&D and investments in<br />

new technologies and infrastructures, including publicprivate<br />

partnerships. Increasingly there is also a focus<br />

on demand side policy issues i.e. the adoption of new<br />

technologies and applications by various groups of<br />

end users – including consumers, small and medium<br />

enterprises and public authorities. The aim is to enable<br />

innovation: in new products and services; in the market<br />

place, consumer behavior and value; and in organizational<br />

skills, activities and capabilities. In the context of <strong>ICT</strong>,<br />

national digital economy initiatives that focus on the<br />

adoption and use of new technologies serve as good<br />

examples of an increasing focus on the importance of a<br />

transformative policy that aims to disseminate crucial <strong>ICT</strong><br />

technologies to all essential sectors of an economy. The<br />

fundamental objectives of a transformational approach<br />

are to further a society’s capacity for a structural<br />

change in the most advantageous direction and the<br />

ability to preserve and increase the associated gains as<br />

the societal context changes. Some typical key policy<br />

goals are; competitiveness, productivity, competence,<br />

knowledge intensive and sustainable economic growth,<br />

and digital inclusion.<br />

14<br />

Finally, the answer to the question: “with what ends in<br />

mind?” has changed over time and hence we should<br />

expect it to continue to do so. Over time we have<br />

also witnessed an increased regulatory complexity<br />

as concurrent regulatory approaches have been<br />

moulded into coexistence. Their relative influence varies<br />

depending on context, market maturity and jurisdiction.<br />

Often the cumulative impact of regulation is complex<br />

and hard to predict. The situation is further aggravated<br />

by the <strong>ICT</strong>-enabled convergence process facilitated by<br />

digitization and broadband communications between<br />

information, communication, broadcast, media and<br />

entertainment that conflates previously sector-specific<br />

circumstances into one common context. This process<br />

at some stage will call for a policy framework overhaul<br />

a.k.a. converged policy reforms. This is why calls for a<br />

more holistic regulatory approach that reconciles at least<br />

some of the main contradictions that may arise from<br />

different regulatory and sector-specific approaches/<br />

objectives are being heard from time to time.<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong> believes nations that will benefit the most<br />

from an <strong>ICT</strong>-led societal transformation will do so by<br />

increasingly adhering to a transformative <strong>ICT</strong> policy<br />

approach, which is more holistic and less sectorspecific,<br />

i.e. converged in a regulatory sense. This<br />

change in policy and regulatory approach fundamentally<br />

reflects the desire of societies to maximize their national<br />

competitiveness and the efficiency of their economy,<br />

industries and public sector. Compared to other<br />

regulatory approaches the transformative approach<br />

maximizes the economic and social benefits of an <strong>ICT</strong>led<br />

transformation. The other regulatory approaches<br />

will continue to coexist to certain degrees since some<br />

societal goals and desired outcomes will continue to<br />

be important and relevant in most jurisdictions and are<br />

better served by these regulatory approaches.


BOX 5. CrEATIvE dESTruCTION - ThE ECONOmICS OF TrANSFOrmATIvE rEmAkINg OF FIrmS,<br />

INduSTrIES ANd SOCIETIES<br />

Schumpeter’s process of creative destruction is a<br />

process in which technological advances are the<br />

main source of economic growth and improvement<br />

in the quality of life. Entrepreneurship and dynamic<br />

competition fuel creative destruction [xviii] in a<br />

process that forces firms and industries to streamline<br />

their processes and develop new tools (technology<br />

leapfrogging) to make them more productive. Firms<br />

also have to cope with changing consumer demand<br />

and offer what end-users want at competitive prices<br />

or alternatively lose customers, and eventually fail. The<br />

market’s “invisible hand”—a phrase of Adam Smith—<br />

shifts resources from declining sectors to more<br />

valuable uses as workers, inputs, and financial capital<br />

seek their highest returns.<br />

A society cannot reap the benefits of creative<br />

destruction without accepting that some firms might<br />

be worse off, not just in the short term, but perhaps<br />

forever. At the same time, attempts to soften the harsher<br />

aspects of creative destruction by trying to preserve<br />

firms and jobs or protect industries will ultimately lead<br />

to stagnation and decline, short-circuiting the march<br />

of progress.<br />

While Schumpeter and his followers were occupied<br />

with dynamic vs. static (price) competition and relative<br />

significance of innovation in big vs. small firms,<br />

Christensen in his book “Innovator’s Dilemma” (1997)<br />

concluded that impact from technological change<br />

comes in two significantly different shapes, with<br />

different effects on firms and industries. Technology<br />

advances of the first sort sustained the industry’s<br />

rate of improvement in product performance and<br />

ranged in difficulty from incremental to radical. The<br />

industry’s dominant firms always led in developing and<br />

adopting these technologies. By contrast, innovations<br />

typically by non-incumbents (e.g. start-ups or from<br />

incumbent firms in adjacent industries) of the second<br />

sort disrupted or redefined performance trajectories<br />

- and consistently resulted in the failure of the<br />

industry’s leading firms. In other words, technological<br />

transformation is definitely not only about big vs. small<br />

and static vs. dynamic but even more about the kinds<br />

of innovations that are introduced to the market and<br />

how these technologies streamline operations, create<br />

new tools, enable new business models and create<br />

new business opportunities in relation to continuously<br />

changing end user demands.<br />

15


hOw TO<br />

REgULATE?<br />

It is obvious from above that there is no one-size fits all<br />

approach to regulate <strong>ICT</strong> but rather that a number of<br />

different regulatory objectives and goals are important in<br />

different situations, times and jurisdictions. Legitimizing<br />

the interventions and their associated goals in a given<br />

context requires a convincing justification. This aspect of<br />

policy making is a complex and sometimes controversial<br />

matter that will continue to consume policy makers’,<br />

regulators’ and other stakeholders’ attention. Given<br />

that this challenge has been adequately addressed, the<br />

next obvious question is “how to regulate?” However<br />

this challenge is to some degree more straightforward<br />

and can be more objectively analyzed on the merits of<br />

identifiable facts.<br />

Much of the discussion on policy and regulation has<br />

historically been concerned with the formulation phase<br />

of policy and regulation, the why and what. However,<br />

increasingly attention has been paid to implementation<br />

of policy and regulation. [xxix] That is, making the choice<br />

and design of regulatory instruments and the degree<br />

of appropriate targeting of these instruments to the<br />

regulatory objectives and ultimately about achieving<br />

desired outcomes. The focus on implementation<br />

and enforcement has also put more pressure on the<br />

formulation phase to more clearly define the primary<br />

objectives of a policy intervention.<br />

It is important that the implementation phase includes<br />

an economic analysis of all relevant implementation<br />

options. This should not be limited to assessment of<br />

administrative costs. Instead it should assess all of the<br />

associated implementation costs that will be borne by<br />

public administrations as well as the market; businesses<br />

and/or consumers and/or society. Finally, the concept of<br />

regulatory failure requires attention by policy makers and<br />

regulators. The risk of a regulatory failure should be taken<br />

every bit as seriously as a risk of a market failure. [xxx]<br />

Most stakeholders accept that the method of<br />

implementing regulation need not be confined to the<br />

conventional top-down command and control type of<br />

implementation strategy. Every single implementation<br />

strategy and every single regulatory tool has its own<br />

strengths and weaknesses and none of them is sufficiently<br />

flexible and resilient to successfully address all relevant<br />

issues in all possible contexts. Four types of regulation<br />

implementation strategies have been identified offering<br />

distinct routes to implement regulation. [xxvii]<br />

16<br />

These routes are not mutually exclusive and provide<br />

a regulatory choice. [xxxi] These are:<br />

• Law/Hierarchy<br />

• Social Norms/Community<br />

• Market/Competition<br />

• Architecture (or code)/Design<br />

A famous example to illustrate these modes states:<br />

…the government may want citizens to wear<br />

seatbelts more often. It could pass a law to<br />

require the wearing of seatbelts (law regulating the<br />

behavior directly). Or it could fund public education<br />

campaigns to create a stigma against those who do<br />

not wear seatbelts (law regulating social norms as<br />

a means to regulate behavior). Or it could subsidize<br />

insurance companies to offer reduced rates to<br />

seatbelt wearers (law regulating the market as a<br />

way of regulating the behavior). Law could mandate<br />

automatic seatbelts or ignition blocking systems<br />

(changing the architecture or code of the automobile<br />

as a means of regulating behavior). [xxxii]<br />

Finally, the regulatory process needs to be considered as<br />

a whole – formulation, implementation and enforcement.<br />

The implementation strategies however face the<br />

additional challenge associated with the separation of<br />

regulatory process from regulatory content. Both process<br />

and content will continue to be important. [xxxiii] In other<br />

words, a perfect process cannot compensate for poor<br />

quality of regulatory content. The challenges associated<br />

with agency dilemma [xxxiv], institutional (dis)incentives<br />

and the level of competence of a regulator still apply.<br />

The OECD has been working over the last two decades<br />

on providing advice on how to improve the quality of<br />

a regulatory process and provides us with seven main<br />

regulatory improvement tools: [xxxv]<br />

• Regulatory impact assessment<br />

• Consultation and transparency<br />

• Reduction of administrative burdens and red tape<br />

(i.e. regulatory simplification)<br />

• Enforcement guidelines<br />

• Alternatives to traditional top down implementation<br />

strategies (self-regulation, market-based<br />

instruments, standards, etc )<br />

• Sunset provisions<br />

• Regulatory policies and reviews


kEY gLObAL <strong>ICT</strong><br />

POLICY ISSUES<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong>’s view on some key global <strong>ICT</strong> issues areas are<br />

given in the following;<br />

• Spectrum Management<br />

• Network Regulation<br />

• Convergence<br />

• Media/Content Regulation<br />

• Copyright<br />

• Information Management (such as data privacy and<br />

cyber security)<br />

These issues have significant impact on R&D investments<br />

and innovation in <strong>ICT</strong> technologies. They affect the cost,<br />

performance and capability of new <strong>ICT</strong> technologies.<br />

A number of <strong>ICT</strong> sectors such as telecom, broadcast,<br />

media, entertainment, software and Internet online<br />

platforms exhibit similar economic realities of high fixed<br />

costs, low marginal costs, economies of scale and network<br />

effects, and hence all face similar investment risks and<br />

uncertainties. Furthermore, these policy issues impact<br />

the timing and scale of the willingness to invest in <strong>ICT</strong><br />

hardware, software and applications. They also determine<br />

end users’ ability to benefit from the use of <strong>ICT</strong>-based<br />

services as these policy issues define the speed, scale and<br />

intensity of <strong>ICT</strong> services adoption.<br />

17


Spectrum management.<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong>’s positions for each issue including a brief<br />

introduction is provided below; detailed information on<br />

each specific issue can be provided on request.<br />

To identify new spectrum bands in the ITU and license<br />

them nationally is a ten-year process. The work carried<br />

out by regional bodies, such as CEPT for Europe, CITEL<br />

for the Americas, the Asia Pacific Telecommunity and the<br />

African Telecommunication Union lays the foundations for<br />

the introduction of products with standardized connectivity<br />

that can meet the requirements of businesses and<br />

consumers with respect to performance and affordability.<br />

The policy goals of global and regional harmonization<br />

efforts should be to enable:<br />

• Economies of scale<br />

• Easy cross-border coordination<br />

• Cross-border operation<br />

• Global roaming capabilities<br />

• Interoperability, choice and affordability<br />

• Efficient use of spectrum, also in border areas<br />

• Maximizing the economic and societal benefits of<br />

spectrum usage<br />

Network regulation.<br />

Investments in network infrastructure are long-term,<br />

large-scale undertakings that rely on confidence in the<br />

existence of stable market rules that stimulate such<br />

investments and the usage of broadband services. A<br />

typical national network costs billions of € to deploy and<br />

maintain, and has a payback time that can be greater<br />

than a decade. The continuous technological evolution<br />

gradually risks making past investments obsolete.<br />

Network investments are also upfront heavy, irreversible<br />

and once deployed the investments exhibit sunk cost<br />

characteristics. National market rules differ between<br />

countries due to legacy concerns. Active infrastructure<br />

competition should however be promoted as the primary<br />

tool to achieve competition in the provision of and usage<br />

of broadband services. In some situations open access<br />

publicly financed network deployments are necessary to<br />

change the dynamics of a market and/or to compensate<br />

for market characteristics such as low population<br />

density. Global standards should be the basis for all<br />

regulatory measures.<br />

Consumer and property rights need to be respected<br />

and should be balanced. Consumers should be entitled<br />

to access the lawful Internet content of their choice<br />

and run applications and services of their choice that<br />

comply with the terms of their service plans, including<br />

bandwidth limits and quality of service considerations,<br />

so long as it does not harm the network.<br />

18<br />

Network operators must be allowed the commercial<br />

freedom to offer tiered service plans in a competitive<br />

market and to tailor service offerings to meet consumer<br />

demands. Network operators must be permitted to<br />

employ transparent, reasonable, competitively neutral<br />

network management techniques, which may include<br />

prioritization or differentiation of classes of traffic, and to<br />

otherwise adjust network resources to ensure coverage,<br />

quality of service, and quality of consumer experience.<br />

Network Neutrality principles should not apply to<br />

competitive wireless networks since these are subject<br />

to capacity constraints due to varying demand and<br />

limitations in spectrum availability which have significant<br />

implications on network performance.<br />

Convergence.<br />

Convergence is a process that breaks up existing vertical<br />

service-specific value chains and technologies into a<br />

multitude of horizontal service offerings. Convergence is<br />

about services and about new ways of doing business<br />

and of interacting with society. [xxxvi] This technologically<br />

driven process can be understood by considering the<br />

new possibilities it brings to end-users, businesses and<br />

society. Convergence changes markets by transforming<br />

industry sectors, blurring historical market boundaries,<br />

changing the composition and range of possible<br />

market offerings and challenging the robustness of<br />

previously successful business strategies. From a policy<br />

perspective, converges enables increased demandside<br />

and/or supply-side substitution that can ultimately<br />

deliver more choice, competition and innovation.<br />

In a converging environment, a regulatory framework<br />

that treats similar services differently, for example on the<br />

basis of the technical platform, leads to inconsistencies<br />

and uncertainties that limit substitution. This prevents<br />

the market from fully benefiting from the opportunities<br />

provided by technological progress. A vertical and sectorspecific<br />

regulatory approach in an increasingly converged<br />

business environment amplifies the risk for unintended<br />

and dysfunctional market outcomes, suboptimal resource<br />

utilization and decreasing end-user value. <strong>Policy</strong> makers<br />

should increasingly consider a technology-neutral<br />

framework that treats the underlying platforms equally.<br />

Furthermore, as a principle the starting point of a<br />

regulatory implementation strategy should be the service<br />

in question not the platform that delivers the service. This<br />

should not be interpreted as a need to regulate all services<br />

but rather that those that do need to be regulated should<br />

be so based on the justification and desirability of certain<br />

goals and outcomes. The implementation strategy should<br />

be service-specific rather than platform-specific.


media/Content regulation.<br />

A multi-platform audiovisual policy approach needs to<br />

recognize the fast-growing availability and accessibility<br />

of audiovisual content in an environment with various<br />

complementary and alternative networks. In a multiplatform<br />

environment, the same rules and principles<br />

should apply to all technologies and distribution<br />

platforms. Media policy regulation should be technologyneutral<br />

and platform-independent. In other words,<br />

regulation of audiovisual media services should function<br />

irrespective of the underlying platform or means of<br />

distribution.<br />

The key elements that need to be present in a multiplatform<br />

approach are:<br />

• Support of open industry-wide standards for IP<br />

based media distribution via Set-Top Boxes,<br />

Connected TVs and IPTV.<br />

• A platform-neutral approach to regulation of<br />

audiovisual services.<br />

• Clear definitions of what constitutes an audiovisual<br />

service and a definition of audiovisual media service<br />

providers, along with a delineation of their<br />

responsibilities and obligations.<br />

• Mechanisms for fairly managing the competition<br />

within audiovisual distribution markets with tools that<br />

ensure the efficiency of program/content aggregation<br />

for the distribution market.<br />

• Copyright reforms that unlock barriers to multi<br />

platform, anytime, anywhere digital distribution.<br />

Internet content regulation is increasingly becoming a<br />

contentious issue. All regions and nations have their<br />

different norms, systems, values and sensitivities.<br />

When these norms are challenged by the progress of<br />

technology or development in society a rights-based<br />

policy approach typically challenges the established<br />

views. In addition, media convergence is another related<br />

development sometimes confused with Internet content<br />

regulation. However, converged media regulation is<br />

focused on the issue of how to systematically regulate<br />

the different types of professionally produced content<br />

classes in a converged environment: entertainment,<br />

current affairs reporting and cultural works. In this case<br />

the issue of editorial responsibility of a professional<br />

media publisher is of main concern. While Internet<br />

content regulation is fundamentally about free speech,<br />

the level of legitimate individual responsibility of a citizen<br />

(that is, legitimate limitations to free speech) and the level<br />

of expected responsibility of intermediaries enforcing<br />

these limitations are some examples of key concerns.<br />

Copyright.<br />

A revision in most countries of the current digitally<br />

restrictive copyright approach offers a unique<br />

opportunity for nations to set and lead by example. This<br />

is an opportunity that should not be missed. Through<br />

National Digital Agendas, policy makers can update<br />

the current state of play in the digital creative market<br />

by tearing down key structural barriers to making lawful<br />

(licensed and exempt) digital content widely available in<br />

an appealing, timely and user-friendly way.<br />

<strong>Policy</strong> makers need to address some of the fundamental<br />

barriers that hinder the possibility to reap and share the<br />

digital productivity and creativity gains that societies<br />

need. It is time to tear down barriers and solve the<br />

market supply failure of lawful (licensed and exempt)<br />

digital content. This failure is caused mainly by three<br />

structural barriers:<br />

• Limited availability of lawful digital content caused by<br />

“windowing”, exclusive licensing and territoriality<br />

Windowing refers to selling and re-selling products<br />

over time using various distribution channels, for<br />

example the film industry using cinemas, home<br />

video, rentals, cable, video-on-demand, and free-to<br />

air broadcasting.<br />

• Technology-specific copyright conditions including<br />

licensing, exceptions, safe harbors and exhaustion<br />

that limits or delays innovation of new services.<br />

• Unreasonable transaction costs make digital content<br />

unnecessarily expensive.<br />

A competitive and consumer-friendly digital content<br />

market and an appropriate legal framework to enable<br />

easy lawful (licensed) access to digital content are<br />

essential preconditions for the creation of a culture of<br />

lawful, rather than unlawful, consumption. Copyright<br />

enforcement policy should be developed from a clear<br />

evidence-based approach that is:<br />

• Fact-based.<br />

• Balanced to include all relevant stakeholders.<br />

• Focused on end-user demand.<br />

• Respects the right to privacy and freedom<br />

of communication.<br />

• Supports continued innovation in new technologies<br />

and services.<br />

• Promotes growth of lawful licensed digital services,<br />

and market efficiency.<br />

• Respects the relative nature of property rights such<br />

as copyright.<br />

• Avoids outsourcing, e.g. to ISPs, of private<br />

property enforcement.<br />

19


Information management.<br />

The value of information as well as its strategic risks, such<br />

as cyber security, rises with the growth of broadband<br />

networks and the expansion of attention economy [see<br />

box 6]. This value/risk is amplified by the use of networked<br />

applications offered on a multi-territorial basis, such as<br />

social networking, cloud architectures and proliferation<br />

of access points. This leads to a need for coherent<br />

analysis of the roles, relationships, responsibilities and<br />

liabilities of all involved stakeholders:<br />

• End–users: consumer, businesses and<br />

public authorities.<br />

• Service providers: controllers of information<br />

and its use.<br />

• Data/information processors, including cloud<br />

providers, and<br />

• Technology providers.<br />

20<br />

BOX 6. ATTENTION ECONOmICS<br />

The rapid growth of information causes scarcity<br />

of attention:<br />

“...in an information-rich world, the wealth of information<br />

means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever<br />

it is that information consumes. What information<br />

consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention<br />

of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a<br />

poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention<br />

efficiently among the overabundance of information<br />

sources that might consume it” [xxxvii]<br />

From a consumer perspective information management<br />

has been concerned with issues like spam, data privacy,<br />

identity theft and Internet bullying. From a national<br />

security perspective, cybercrime, such as phishing,<br />

trade with counterfeited and stolen goods, corporate<br />

espionage, botnets and DoS (Denial of Service) attacks<br />

pose threats to commercial and civic society. Enduser<br />

confidence in using networked applications is<br />

crucial and hence consumer protection will become<br />

even more essential. Keeping the emerging <strong>Networked</strong><br />

<strong>Society</strong> sufficiently secure will require new approaches<br />

to criminal enforcement that can deal with cyber<br />

security problems that can be highly scalable, difficult<br />

to trace, distributed across multiple territories and often<br />

exceeding the capacity of national approaches.<br />

The fundamental idea behind the attention economy<br />

is to facilitate a marketplace where consumers agree<br />

to receive services in exchange for their attention. The<br />

ultimate purpose is of course to sell something to the<br />

consumer, but the selling does not need to be direct<br />

and does not need to be instant. The most important<br />

factor in attention economy is relevancy. The more one<br />

knows about consumers the more relevant and hence<br />

successful one can be in the attention economy.<br />

“Personal data is the new oil of the Internet and the new<br />

currency of the Digital World.” [xxxviii]


CONCLUSIONS<br />

The networked infrastructure that blends computing<br />

and communication is the largest construction project<br />

in human history. We are at an inflection point where a<br />

significant change in competitive opportunities of nations,<br />

industries, firms and cities is expected. The emergence of<br />

a <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> holds the promise of an economic<br />

shift and of significant societal benefits. This is possible<br />

if we can adopt national and global policies and create a<br />

regulatory framework that can accommodate and<br />

nurture this desired change.<br />

In this context, as policy makers and regulators take<br />

on some of the key issues, such as spectrum, network<br />

regulation, media regulation and convergence, some<br />

crucial questions will continue to be at the center<br />

stage of national and global <strong>ICT</strong> policy and regulatory<br />

development:<br />

• Why Regulate? – The policy rationale and legitimacy<br />

of interventions.<br />

• With what ends in mind? – Regulatory objectives and<br />

desired outcomes being pursued.<br />

• How to regulate? – The matching of regulatory<br />

instruments to regulatory objectives and choice of<br />

implementation strategy.<br />

The constantly changing market and business<br />

conditions mean that <strong>ICT</strong> policy and regulatory<br />

frameworks (why, what, how) must also continue to<br />

evolve to reflect new realities, and to allow the potential<br />

offered by the constant influx of new <strong>ICT</strong> innovations<br />

and developments to be realized. No successful<br />

policy framework comes with a lifetime warranty. In<br />

the continuously ongoing transformation process,<br />

the least desirable outcome of an <strong>ICT</strong> policy framework<br />

would be the protection and conservation of the past<br />

and a delay of the future.<br />

To master the societal change of an <strong>ICT</strong>-led transformation<br />

in the most advantageous direction, future <strong>ICT</strong> policy<br />

and regulatory frameworks will need to carefully consider<br />

how they shape the structures of industries, the conduct<br />

of stakeholders and how they set in motion major shifts<br />

in economic value. Increasingly, a conventional supply<br />

side policy focus will also have to be complemented<br />

with demand-side policy considerations – e.g. the<br />

adoption process of new technologies and applications<br />

by various groups of end-users – including consumers,<br />

small and medium enterprises and public authorities.<br />

This adoption enables innovation in new products and<br />

services, innovation in the market place, new consumer<br />

behavior and value, and innovation in organizational<br />

skills, activities and capabilities.<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong> believes that an <strong>ICT</strong> policy approach that<br />

not only recognizes but also elevates the strategic<br />

importance of <strong>ICT</strong> technologies will enable nations and<br />

societies to master the ongoing transformation in the<br />

most advantageous way and thereby enable a distinct<br />

and sustainable productive shift in their economies.<br />

This will release all of the associated positive benefits<br />

and <strong>Ericsson</strong> therefore believes that the future <strong>ICT</strong><br />

policy approach should shift towards a transformative<br />

approach which is more holistic and less sector- specific.<br />

This relative change of gravity in policy approach<br />

fundamentally supports the desire of societies and<br />

nations to maximize their national competitiveness to the<br />

benefit of their economy, industries and public sector.<br />

21


EFErENCES ANd SuggESTIONS FOr FurThEr rEAdINg<br />

i Cowhey and Aronson, Transforming Global Information and Communication Market, the Political Economy<br />

of Innovation, 2009.<br />

ii A policy framework includes following elements: a) formulation of legitimacy of a regulator and<br />

interventions (why regulate) b) clear specification of regulatory goals and objectives (what ends in mind) and<br />

c) how to best target regulatory instruments with regulatory objectives (how to regulate?). It also includes<br />

all phases of a policy/regulatory process; policy definition, policy design, implementation, enforcement<br />

and policy review.<br />

iii Carlota Perez, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, chapter 2, 2005.<br />

iv Stephen Cohen et al. Global Competition: New Reality vol. 3 of John Young Competitiveness: the Report<br />

of the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, Washington DC, 1985.<br />

v The literature is enormous for some prominent examples see; Wired <strong>For</strong> Innovation – How IT is Reshaping<br />

the Economy, Brynjolfsson and Saunders; MIT 2010. The Economics of the Digital <strong>Society</strong>, Soete and<br />

Wheel, 2005. The Rise of the Network <strong>Society</strong>, Second Edition, Castells 2010. Boston Consulting Group,<br />

Socio-economic impact of allocating 700 MHz band to mobile in Asia Pacific, 2010, EPC/Copenhagen<br />

Economics –The Economic Impact of a European Digital Single Market, 2010. ADL, Socioeconomic impact<br />

of broadband network investments, 2010. See also http://www.ericsson.com/news/1550083 <strong>Ericsson</strong><br />

Press Release: “New study quantifies the impact of broadband speed on GDP”.<br />

vi Digital Quality of Life, October, ITIF, page 3, 2008.<br />

vii To read more about digitalization and <strong>ICT</strong> technology advancements, see for example: Competing for the<br />

Future- how digital innovations are changing the World, Henry Kressel, 2007.<br />

viii TV or not TV - Three Screens one Regulation?, Eli M Noam, 2008. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/media/<br />

noam2008.htm<br />

ix <strong>ICT</strong> <strong>Policy</strong> <strong>For</strong>mulation and e-Strategy Development U.N. DP, Asian-Pacific Development Information<br />

Programme, 2005<br />

x The Economist, Finishing the Job, 24th of September 2009.<br />

xi <strong>Ericsson</strong>’s <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> City Index, Triple bottom line effects of accelerated <strong>ICT</strong> Maturity in world<br />

wide Cities, 2011.<br />

xii World’s top global mega trends to 2020 and implications to business, society and cultures , Frost &<br />

Sullivan<br />

xiii UN-habitats, State of the World cities 2010/2011<br />

xiv Source: Networks and States, The global politics of internet governance, Mueller, 2010.<br />

xv To offer a precise definition is to risk arguments at the margin. <strong>Policy</strong> and Regulation are used<br />

interchangeably, with a broad meaning; policy/regulation is the sustained and focused attempt to alter the<br />

behaviour of others according to defined standards or purposes with the intention of producing a broadly<br />

identified outcome or outcomes, which may involve mechanisms of standard-setting, information gathering<br />

and behaviour modification. <strong>For</strong> further reading see: Regulation: Legal <strong>For</strong>m and Economic Theory, Ogus,<br />

1994. Also the relation between regulation and legislation is relevant to address. If regulation is about<br />

altering behaviour, then legislation is a subset of regulation. On the other hand, to the extent that regulation<br />

does not encompass task such as constitution making and dispute-resolution the law is broader than<br />

regulation, in other words law and regulation intersect with one another but are not co-extensive. <strong>For</strong> further<br />

reading: Rights, Regulation, and the Technological Revolution, Brownsword page 7, 2008.<br />

xvi The World Bank <strong>Policy</strong> Research: A Historical Overview, Jean-Jacques Dethier, 2009<br />

xvii Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets, the Political Economy of Innovation,<br />

Cowhey and Aronson, 2009.<br />

xviii Manuel Castells, The Rise of the <strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong>, Second Edition, page 5-7, 2010<br />

22<br />

xix Allocative efficiency: a situation when conditions of perfect competition prevail and where goods and<br />

services are allocated between consumers according to the price they are prepared to pay and price never<br />

rises above the marginal cost of production. (Some times also called static efficiency)<br />

xx Productive efficiency: a situation when as little of society’s wealth is expended in the production of<br />

goods as necessary, so goods are produced at the lowest possible cost. (the emphasis in on the internal<br />

management of a firm’s resources)<br />

xxi Dynamic efficiency: refers to market conditions that appropriately balance short run concerns (allocative<br />

static efficiency) with concerns in the long run (focusing on encouraging research and development).<br />

Through dynamic efficiency, an economy is able to further improve efficiency over time by making<br />

investments in R&D, Education and Innovation that act as forms of new market and demand discovery.<br />

xxii Further reading see, Chicago School literature and its influence on US Antitrust law, Amato (1997)<br />

Bork (1993).<br />

xxiii Financial Risk Outlook, London Financial Services Authority, C McCarthy 2005.<br />

xxiv <strong>For</strong> more expanded discussion see for example: The limits of competition law, markets and public<br />

services, Prosser, 2005<br />

xxv <strong>For</strong> further reading see; Rights, Regulation and the Technological Revolution, Brownsword, 2008 and<br />

The Intersection of Rights and Regulation, Morgan, 2007.<br />

xxvi After the Rights Revolution – Reconceiving the Regulatory State, Sunstein, 1990.<br />

xxvii Inspired by: Networks and States, The Global Politics of Internet Governance, Mueller, 2010.<br />

xxviii Originally the term creative destruction was derived from Marxist economic theory, The Communist<br />

Manifesto, Marx & Engels 1848 and later in “Das Kapital” 1863. However the term has been popularised by<br />

John Schumpeter who further developed the concept in his theory of economic innovation in “Capitalism,<br />

Socialism and Democracy” (1942).<br />

xxix To get an overview of the state of the art of the Public <strong>Policy</strong> Implementation Research an Introduction<br />

to the Study of Operational Governance; Hill and Hupe, Implementing Public <strong>Policy</strong>, 2009.<br />

xxx Better Regulation, Weatherill, page 7 and 58, 2007.<br />

xxxi Controlling the New Media, Hybrid response to New <strong>For</strong>ms of Power, Murray & Scott, 2002 and The<br />

Regulation of Cyberspace, Murray 2007.<br />

xxxii Code and other Laws of Cyberspace, Lessing, chapter 7, 1999<br />

xxxiii Better Regulation, Weatherill, 2007.<br />

xxxiv Principal–agent problem or agency dilemma treats the difficulties that arise under conditions of<br />

incomplete and asymmetric information when a principal hires an agent, such as the problem of potential<br />

moral hazard and conflict of interest, in as much as the principal is—presumably—hiring the agent to pursue<br />

the principal’s interests. <strong>For</strong> more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_<br />

problem<br />

xxxv The reference list is extensive, some examples see: OECD, Regulating Policies in OECD Countries,<br />

2002. OECD, Improving the quality of government regulation OECD 1995, OECD Regulatory Reform OECD<br />

1997, OECD Regulatory Impact Analysis, OECD 1997.<br />

xxxvi EC Green Paper on the convergence of the Telecommunication, Media and Information Technology<br />

sectors and the implications for regulation, COM (97)623.<br />

xxxvii Herbert Simon, “Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World” 1971 pp 40-41.<br />

xxxviii Maglena Kuneva, European Consumer Protection Commissioner, March 2009.


ABOuT ErICSSON<br />

<strong>Ericsson</strong> is the world’s leading provider of communications technology and services. We are enabling the<br />

<strong>Networked</strong> <strong>Society</strong> with efficient real-time solutions that allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely, in<br />

sustainable societies around the world.<br />

Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within Information and Communications Technology<br />

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<strong>Ericsson</strong> networks and we support customers’ networks servicing more than 2 billion subscribers.<br />

We operate in 180 countries and employ more than 100,000 people. Founded in 1876, <strong>Ericsson</strong> is headquartered in<br />

Stockholm, Sweden. In 2011 the company had revenues of SEK 226,9 billion (USD 35.0 billion). <strong>Ericsson</strong> is listed on<br />

NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.<br />

Internal: https://ericoll.internal.ericsson.com/sites/GIR-Government_and_Industry_Relations/Wiki/<strong>ICT</strong>%20policy.aspx<br />

The content of this document is subject to revision without<br />

notice due to continued progress in methodology, design and<br />

manufacturing. <strong>Ericsson</strong> shall have no liability for any error or<br />

damage of any kind resulting from the use of this document<br />

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