Telecommunications Challenges inDeveloping Countries : Asymmetric Interconnection Chargesfor Rural Areas

Dymond, Andrew

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ARBITRAGE;    AVERAGE COSTS;    CALLS;    CITIES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/0-8213-5784-0
RP-ID  :  28402

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This report addresses the importantissue of interconnection, the application and enforcement ofwhich is widely recognized to be key to effectiveliberalization strategy, or often a key reason for failure.Nowhere is this more critical than in the area of ruraltelecommunications, where network costs are known to be highand where the traditional consensus has been that servicescannot be rolled out without subsidies. In a liberalizingenvironment, the issue becomes even more critical. Ruralareas must be better connected, but subsidies-evenbest-practice explicit subsidies applied in a so-calledsmart way-cannot cover all of the areas that will remainwithout service unless better means of incentivizinginvestment are explored. This report investigates anapproach to rural telecommunications investment that wouldseek to bridge most of the so-called rural "accessgap" by revising the network interconnection regime,such that operators serving high cost areas would receivehigher call termination fees. The new regime would be builton geographically de-averaged termination charges, to bemore indicative of network cost differences between urbanand rural networks. The new system could change the businessmodel for rural networks, harnessing the potential forincoming call revenues to shoulder much more of theinvestment feasibility than currently allowed. It is arguedthat the rural access gap could be bridged largely by moreefficient pricing, thus reducing the need for subsidies,leaving only the most remote and challenging areas in needof financial support.