broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

implemented or proposed in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Colombia,Singapore, and South Africa. However, public financing of national backbonesshould not crowd out private investment or distort competition.Moreover, where a public subsidy is provided to a backbone broadbandnetwork, open-access obligations should be imposed.Cross-sector coordination is also relevant to the efficient deployment ofnational connectivity. Fiber optic networks are usually built along existinginfrastructure networks such as roads, railways, pipelines, or electricitytransmission lines. Most of the cost of constructing fiber optic cable networksalong these alternative infrastructure networks lies in the civil works.These costs represent a major fixed and sunk investment, increasing therisks faced by network operators. By lowering the cost of access to theseinfrastructure networks and reducing the risk associated with it, governmentscan significantly increase incentives for private investment in backbonenetworks. One way to reduce costs is to make rights-of-way readilyavailable to network developers by simplify ing the legal process and limitingthe fees that can be charged by local authorities. Additionally, governmentscan provide direct access to existing infrastruc ture that they own orcontrol. For example, a railway company could partner with one or moreoperators to build a fiber optic cable network along the railway lines. InJanuary 2011, for example, Serbian Railways and PTT Srbija agreed to constructtelecommunications infrastructure jointly along Serbian Railway’scorridors, totaling 2,031 kilometers. 18 The United States, for example, hashad a policy since 2004 that assists telecommunications providers seekingaccess to rights-of-way on federal lands (United States, White House, Officeof the Press Secretary 2004).Metropolitan ConnectivityMetropolitan connectivity, also referred to as the “middle-mile” or “backhaul”infrastructure, connects towns to the backbone infrastructure orremote wireless base stations and then to the operators’ core network. Competitiveand well-functioning wholesale markets for backhaul capacity (forexample, leased lines) are a critical component of broadband diffusion andadoption. Developing countries are beginning to focus on core backbone andbackhaul networks as a means to increase broadband deployment. Forexample, South Africa established a state-owned fiber-based infrastructureprovider, Broadband Infraco, to provide national backhaul connections on awholesale basis. 19 Brazil has also begun focusing on backhaul by enteringinto an agreement with five wireline operators to build out broadband backhaulnetworks to 3,439 unserved municipalities in exchange for beingrelieved of existing obligations to install 8,000 dial-up-equipped telecenters.Law and Regulation for a Broadband World 115