Good Practice Framework and Roadmap for the development of Broadband

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Good Practice Framework and Roadmap for the development of Broadband

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Title: Good Practice Framework and Roadmap for the development of Broadband

1
Good Practice Framework and Roadmap for the
development of Broadband Results from EU project
BREATH Dr. Ioannis Tomkos Associate Dean
Research Group Head, AIT
BReATH Broadband e-Services and Access for the
Home
2
Outline

Intro to project BREATH and AITs role
BREATH Good Practice Framework
Available at www.ist-breath.net
BREATH Broadband Roadmap
Available at www.ist-breath.net
Conclusions

3
EU project BReATH (initiated by AIT)
Good Practice Framework
Strategic Deployment
Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, SIGs, RIGs
Broadband Access
Case Studies Successful Practices Techno-economic
Analysis (AIT)
Liaise with ICT Activities Projects (VisionAIR,
MUSE, BREAD, etc)
Surveying Benchmarking Regulatory Issues

4
AIT as partner in strategic planning for
broadband development/deployment

AITs strong know-how on techno-economic studies,
policy/regulation issues, broadband market and
technologies, has been utilized in a number of
projects for the benefit of its
customers/partners, including
Participated in the EU project BREATH that
assisted a number of stakeholders in new member
states to develop broadband at a national or
regional level
Performed and presented a study for EETT
regarding the business case of WiMax in Greece
Assisted the high level management team of
Hellas on Line in the development of their
business plan and proposal to Information
Society S.A. that resulted in over 43MEuros
funding for HOL
Assists the ITC network operator in Saudi Arabia
to plan their FTTH broadband network deployment

5
Lessons learned

The potential impact of broadband
ICT, via broadband, has the power to revitalize
local industry and commerce, transform the
economic well-being of communities, bring more
jobs, raise GDP and drive inward investment.
Broadband supply
How to convince national/regional operators,
municipalities and research networks to deploy
networks
Broadband demand
How to convince the citizens to request and use
broadband services.
Organizing for action
Before broadband networks are rolled out, whether
through commercial channels or through an
intervention scheme, there needs to be a viable
business case that demonstrates the rollout is
both viable and sustainable.
Local governments often lack the broad technical
knowledge needed to enable them to put together
acceptable and winning project proposals.

6
Supply side influences

Investment funds
Deploying broadband needs a substantial level of
investment. That investment in general comes from
two types of source a) Legacy investment that
has been made in the telecommunications
infrastructure over many past decades and b)
new investment coming from commercial telecom
operators and service providers or
municipalities.
Public funds
The level of public funding is usually much
smaller in comparison to those above and it tends
to be applied in geographical areas that have no
current broadband service and no near term
prospect of receiving broadband service.
Regulation
The level of both deployment and take-up of
broadband in each country is strongly influenced
by the national regulatory position.
Infrastructures and technologies
Copper pairs and xDSL, coaxial cables and cable
modems, wireless and fibre infrastructure

7
Demand side influences

Political drivers
Once politicians recognize the importance of ICT
and broadband to economic and societal
development the subject will enter into political
debate, and the public awareness of its
importance will grow.
Awareness of the knowledge society
As long as the population at large does not
appreciate the benefits of the knowledge society,
transformation is unlikely to happen.
Ability to use ICT
A pre-requisite for widespread use of ICT and
broadband is education and training in using ICT
Level of demand
Since broadband is not yet considered a
universal service, one of the factors affecting
whether an operator will cover a particular area
is knowing that there will be sufficient demand
to justify the outlay.
Guaranteed customers
Agreement by a large organization to take up
service on the network can help significantly to
establish viability and sustainability.
Corporations and public sector organizations
(libraries, schools, municipal services and so
on) can make a major contribution through monthly
subscriptions if their service can be delivered
through the planned initiative.
Affordability
Affordability is a major factor where salaries
and purchasing power are significantly lower than
in other areas

8
Good practice and best practice

The terms good practice and best practice are
used quite commonly (sometimes interchangeably)
Good practice
Measures that emphasize economic and societal
objectives associated with the use of public
funding to make broadband more widely available,
in an efficient way
Best practice
Those good practice measures that are best
suited to a particular initiative or set of
requirements.
The BREATH Good Practice Framework therefore
provides guidance on good practice measures, but
the choice of best practice rests with those who
carry responsibility for initiating and managing
specific projects to increase the availability
and use of broadband

9
BREATH good practice framework

The BREATH Good Practice Framework provides
guidance to those concerned with the use of
public funding either to promote the deployment
of broadband infrastructure or to initiate
broadband development projects to achieve these
aims.
It identifies typical conditions under which
public intervention may be appropriate and it
discusses the main methods of applying
intervention funding.
It gives a series of recommendations designed to
assist those responsible for applying for and
administering public funds so that they can build
winning project proposals and can take decisions,
which make the most efficient use of the
available funding.

10
Conditions for government intervention

In general terms, these are as follows
where regulation has not yet produced an open and
competitive market, and where the strategy of an
incumbent operator inhibits the opportunity of
alternative network operators
where no broadband service exists, and where
there is no prospect of service being provided in
the foreseeable future
where a Service Provider is prepared to provide a
service, but the prospects are not economically
viable to do so
where the connection price is not at a level
which is generally affordable by the population
at large (e.g. satellite service may be
available, but few could afford to pay for it).
where the population at large is unable to afford
the facilities needed to use broadband, such as
computers and basic training
where there is insufficient knowledge of how to
use ICT and insufficient understanding of why it
is important
where there is sufficient demand, which could
convince operators to invest in an unserved area,
but where there are no channels or procedures to
advertise and demonstrate this demand

11
Intervention methods

There are a number of ways in which a public body
can intervene to help make broadband available,
or more widely available, in an area.
The principle ones fall under the following
headings
stimulating and advertising supply and demand
providing broadband infrastructure
providing broadband services
providing training and access facilities
aggregating public and private demand.
In practice an intervention campaign usually
combines more than one of these approaches. The
manner in which an intervention scheme is
promoted is crucial to its success.

12
Stimulating and advertising supply and demand

Supply side
Promoting supply through direct negotiations with
broadband infrastructure providers.
Demonstrating to suppliers that sufficient latent
demand exists to support a viable market and that
this can be stimulated through promotional
activities.
In some cases where there has been no immediate
prospect of a commercial broadband service in an
area, plans for a publicly funded infrastructure
have threatened to capture a market that later
becomes commercially viable and this has had the
effect of stimulating the initiation of a
commercial service (infrastructure provision must
be done in a way that does not contravene state
Aid rules).
Demand side
Initiation of local community campaigns to raise
awareness and interest and to demonstrate a
willingness to subscribe to a broadband service
(e.g. East of England Demand Broadband campaign
and BT local community campaigns). Campaigns can
include newspaper/TV reports, leaflets, meetings
involving senior political figures, promotions
with Chambers of Commerce, community groups, etc.
A web facility to register interest in having a
broadband connection (e.g. East of England
Demand Broadband campaign).
Broadband demonstration centres (e.g. Kenniswijk,
The Netherlands).
Mobile exhibitions (e.g. broadband bus with
wireless connection, Scottish Borders).

13
Community network projects

Community Network Projects are projects that have
been initiated by a local community, rather than
as part of a wider strategic initiative.
Generally they have received minimal or no public
funding and have been delivered through
grassroots community action.
This approach is often used to provide an interim
solution until a commercial service becomes
available, or may be used by a community group to
keep their connection costs low (e.g. Wireless
Leiden in the Netherlands).

14
Providing broadband through municipalities

Municipal broadband networks, which may be
provided through procurement or public-private
partnerships is of great importance.
Network infrastructure provision may be a
relevant method in those areas where competition
and an open market are not yet established.
In Europe, special regard must be paid to the
State Aid rules, which were designed to protect
the free market by ensuring that the use of
public funding does not distort competition or
give an unfair advantage. Insufficient
consideration of the State Aid rules could lead
to legal challenges or the withdrawal of public
funds (e.g. Appingedam, The Netherlands).
One step that can be taken is to ensure that the
capacity provided by state funded infrastructure
is available only on a wholesale basis to service
providers and not directly to consumers.
A government department or agency planning a
network infrastructure initiative should ensure
that the scheme has a sufficient flexibility to
cater for changes in the market.
In some of the case studies, infrastructure plans
set out in good faith by municipalities have been
overturned through changes in the market, for
example by an operator choosing to deploy
broadband after all (e.g. Wireless Philadelphia).

15
Providing municipal broadband services

In some cases broadband service has also been
provided directly to the public on the grounds
that
a free basic service should be available to the
lower paid or
certain areas are not covered by existing schemes
or
a pilot or trial is needed to evaluate impact and
potential of new technology.
Clearly if there is also a commercial service in
the area there is potential to distort
competition through the use of the public
funding.
The affected operator(s) would need to be in
agreement with the scheme, otherwise legal
challenge would be highly likely.
One way to avoid direct competition with an
existing supplier is to ensure the public service
is limited in its features, performance and
availability.
For example, if the basic commercial offering was
512 kb/s, the bit rate might be limited to 256
kb/s. Or sessions might be limited to 1 hour at a
time and contention ratios may be allowed to fall
to a higher level than that provided commercially
(say worse than 501).

16
Ensuring effective practices - I

National level actions
Set objectives for all Regional Development
Agencies to stimulate the widespread deployment,
take-up and exploitation of broadband and
allocate budget to enable them to achieve the
targets
Provide funding assistance to regional bodies to
enable them to train and develop teams able to
prepare strong applications for structural
funding
Initiate a national campaign to raise awareness
of the economic transformation potential of
broadband
Set achievement objectives for Regional
Development Agencies
Ensure that the EC Directives are enshrined in
the national law and that the law effectively
covers the scope intended by the EC
Ensure that the Regulator takes a strong and
impartial line in implementing the EC Regulation
and the legal practices arising from the
Directives and that any actions are timely
Allocate wireless frequency bands in such a way
as to ensure there will be coverage in rural as
well as urban areas

17
Ensuring effective practices - II

Regional level actions
Ensure that appropriate expertise is in place to
build proposals, to coordinate public and private
interests and to apply for public funding
Identify the main needs for the area and the
approach that should be taken to meet those
Develop a public-private partnership
Inform local groups of plans and opportunities
and consult with them to identify appropriate
regional actions
For a broadband infrastructure initiative,
estimate the likely costs of the various
components and develop a business case
Check that any infrastructure or service
development proposal meets the State Aid rules
Initiate project activities
Lobby national government to take action to
overcome regulatory barriers
Measure the impact of all initiatives on job
creation and GDP

18
Ensuring effective practices - III

Local level actions
Local bodies should keep abreast of opportunities
that may arise through their regional bodies and
should make the regional bodies aware of their
main needs so that regional plans can be
structured to cater for local requirements.
Appropriate bids can be made for any regional
project initiatives.
It is also vital that local groups and residents
are kept informed of any developments and
opinions sought on key issues.
Schemes enabling residents and businesses to
register their interest in having a broadband
service provide valuable information in preparing
for a broadband service and are a key element of
any business case for providing broadband.
The stronger the demonstrable commitment of local
users to taking up broadband, the easier it will
be to persuade service providers to provide a
service in the area and the more likely it will
be that the resulting service will be
sustainable.
Such schemes can be operated either by a local
entity or by an operator who is monitoring the
growth of interest and assessing when is the
right time to invest in broadband infrastructure
in the area.

19
The aims of the BREATH Road Map

The aims of the roadmap is
to provide a generic view of the future steps
that should be considered in the planning,
further deployment, promotion and take up of
broadband
to present country specific views based on the
experiences gained during the BReATH workshops
and studies
to promote broadband as a means of supporting
and encouraging economic development
to raise awareness of progressive actions

20
Audience for the Road Map

The Road Map report is designed with a broad
range of stakeholders in mind who must take
decisions about economic development and
regeneration and who could benefit from a wider
appreciation of the impacts and benefits of
broadband for transforming economies.
Urban/rural government decision makers and
planners
Representatives from government bodies
Operators/service providers
Regulators

21
Suggested BREATH roadmap
22
BREATH Roadmap

The BREATH roadmap shows a logical sequence of
high level actions which represent a typical path
of development for broadband. The timeline is not
strict as different countries/actors are
developing their infrastructure at different
rates rather it indicates a general pattern.
In the countries we have looked at, in the early
stages of development governments have allocated
ownership of the ICT responsibility to particular
departments and given consideration to mechanisms
for funding assistance. This has happened at both
national and regional levels.
The NMS are now at about year 3 in this timeline
while ACC countries may yet need to establish
their national framework.
Greece is already in the beginning of the 5th
year in this timeline

23
Conclusions

The BREATH Good Practice Framework Roadmap
takes account of the critical factors identified
before and focuses on government, regulation, and
supply and demand sides for both residential and
business customers.
The BREATH Good Practice Framework provides
guidance to those concerned with the use of
public funding either to promote the deployment
of broadband infrastructure or to initiate
broadband development projects to achieve these
aims.
The BReATH Road Map, suggests a generic way
forward to ensure that conditions are right for
the effective development of broadband
infrastructure and e-services.