broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

operations of a dominant provider, regulators have sometimes requiredthe provider to separate the accounting for different parts of its business—keeping wholesale and retail accounts separate, for example. This betterenables stakeholders to identify unfair discrimination against nonaffiliatedproviders and can help to ensure that competition takes place on fairand equal terms.One of the most severe remedies imposed by regulators is functionalseparation. Functional separation requires the incumbent operator toestablish a new business division—separate from its other divisions—tomanage the network and provide wholesale services to all retail service providerson a nondiscriminatory basis. Functional separation is not the sameas (and is less severe than) structural separation or the spinoff and sale ofnetwork operations: the incumbent operator maintains ownership of thenetwork division, but it must be independent from the operator’s retail andcommercial divisions. In many cases, other regulatory obligations are usedas a complement to functional separation, such as local loop unbundling(LLU) or bitstream obligations. As (fiber) broadband networks are beingdeployed, governments have begun to consider whether similar obligationsshould be placed on those new or upgraded networks. Finally, as a lastresort, full structural separation may be warranted if the government doesnot believe that anticompetitive conduct—either by an incumbent or by anew broadband or fiber optic network operator—can be otherwise controlled.This entails the creation of a totally separate entity—for example, tobuild and manage the network’s physical infrastructure. The various typesof separation policies and examples are discussed in chapter 3.Table 2.3 presents an overview of some of the policies that can be used topromote the supply of broadband. For a more in-depth view of the variouspolicies and programs for promoting the build-out and uptake of broadband,see appendix B to this volume.Encourage the Adoption of Broadband: Promoting DemandCountries are beginning to view broadband promotion not only as a problemof supply of broadband (access to networks), but also as a problem ofdemand for it (adoption by businesses, government, and households). As aresult, demand facilitation is becoming an important part of broadbanddevelopment strategies and policies. Chapter 6 discusses demand-side policiesin more detail.Most of the experiences to date in stimulating demand for broadbandapplications and services come from developed countries. Similar policiesmay work more or less well in developing countries, where economic andPolicy Approaches to Promoting Broadband Development 59