broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

Box 2.1: Public Sector’s Role in Fostering BroadbandDevelopment: Key Lessons• Government should focus on maximizingcompetition, including removing entrybarriers and improving the incentives andclimate for private investment.• Government should provide for specific,limited, and well-justified public fundinginterventions only in exceptional circumstances(for example, where governmentsare trying to promote growth ofunderdeveloped markets).• Government funding or policy should notcompete with or displace private sectorinvestment.• Government should maintain a level playingfield for competition by avoiding favoringone company (or type of company, forexample, telephony vs. cable) over another.• Subsidized networks should be open access(that is, they should offer capacity oraccess to all market participants in a nondiscriminatoryway).• Government may need to regulate dominantproviders to avoid market concentrationor other adverse impacts on overallmarket competition.• Government should eliminate barriers tocontent creation and refrain from blockingaccess to content, including socialnetworking sites, or restricting local contentcreation.Source: Telecommunications Management Group, Inc.(OECD 2008; Qiang 2009). Public investments should be considered onlywhen no or insufficient private investments are expected for a significantperiod. Furthermore, to maintain a level playing field for competition evenwith public investments, governments should seek to avoid favoring onecompany (or type of company, for example, telephony vs. cable) overanother. For example, if and when governments intervene to increase networkavailability, it may be necessary to ensure that subsidized networksare open access, meaning that network operators offer capacity or accessto all market participants in a nondiscriminatory way. Nonetheless, theremay be cases where a dominant provider may need to be appropriatelyregulated to avoid market concentration or other adverse impacts on overallmarket competition.Developing countries in particular will also need to identify ways toleverage limited resources to maximize impact, prioritizing programs basedon demand and market evolution, rather than shying away from policyreform altogether. For most developing countries, the most effectiveapproach to promoting broadband development is likely to involve a mix ofapproaches and policies that rely on private sector investment, coupledwith regulatory reform that will promote efficient and competitive marketsPolicy Approaches to Promoting Broadband Development 43