Diversifying Participation in Network Development
The 2005 WDR research theme, Diversifying Participation in Network Development explores the evolving strategies used to extend the telecom network primarily to rural, high-cost areas. The objective of this cutting edge research is to identify successful strategies that can be replicated in other countries and to avoid unsuccessful ones. Light will be shed on these innovative approaches, looking at key experience to capture the range of possible sources, types and methods of investment funding for network development. The research is currently being developed by the WDR research community in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Who should attend?
- Executives from telecom operators and equipment suppliers interested in innovative ideas that can be applied in developing as well as developed country settings.
- Policy makers, regulators, researchers and professionals interested in cutting edge ICT policy research
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The research that will be discussed includes:
- A multi-country study to understand the telecom strategies of the poor covering 3200 respondents in India and Sri Lanka as well as a meta-study of Bangladesh
- A backbone study that looks at the terms and conditions of access where they exist and the consequences of their absence or exclusionary access regimes in South Asia.
- An assessment of the first Asian least cost subsidies auctions being implemented in Eastern Nepal, with comparison of the nascent Sri Lankan case.
- An assessment of the extension of network in rural areas using access deficit charges & universal service in India, a country that with the second largest universal service fund in the world.
- An examination of the use of business-NGO partnerships to extend rural connectivity and the factors that are required for success based on the experience of Bangladesh.
- An exploration of the possibilities for stimulating bottom-up business approaches to encourage local private operators, investors and co-operatives to participate in sustainable ICT service development in Bhutan.
- An evaluation of the use of WiFi for extending connectivity at the margins, including the scalability and impact of availability and pricing of broadband capacity to link to the Internet backbone.
- A study to understand supply and demand for ICTs by measuring access and usage in Africa, to develop an e-Index
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