REGIONAL INITIATIVES – ASIA-PACIFIC International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Development Bureau Place des Nations GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland OF NATIONAL WIRELESS www.itu.int BROADBAND MASTERPLANS FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION FEBRUARY 2013 Printed in Switzerland Telecommunication Development Sector Geneva, 2013 02/2013 Guidelines for the preparation of national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region February 2013 This report contains a set of general guidelines for national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region until 2020 and has been prepared as a reference framework for Asia-Pacific Member States of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Its publication is concurrent with and owes much to the preparation of four country specific wireless broadband masterplans: Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, and Viet Nam. This report was prepared by ITU experts Mr Scott W Minehane, and Mr Rajesh Mehrotra with overall supervision from the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and Mr Kikwon Kim, under the joint partnership of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Korean Communications Commission (KCC). ITU would like to thank the Korean Communications Commission (KCC) for supporting this project for countries in the Asia-Pacific region. For these Guidelines, the ITU experts gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the respective administrations of Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, and Viet Nam in the development of their respective wireless broadband masterplans. Mr Minehane also acknowledges the assistance of Mr Gordon Toy, and the staff at Windsor Place Consulting (www.windsor-place.com), in the preparation of this report. Please consider the environment before printing this report. ITU 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. Guidelines for the preparation of national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region Foreword Ensuring that all the world’s citizens have reliable and affordable access to broadband supported content and services will give rise to massive economic and social benefits. Bridging the final mile in remote and rural areas presents a particular challenge and has been identified as such by the ITU Membership. This high priority is well-reflected in the Regional Initiatives for Asia Pacific established at WTDC-10. The use of wireless technologies is becoming increasingly feasible and affordable. In order to facilitate their development and implementation in the Asia-Pacific region, ITU has been analysing and assessing successful practices carried out in the region and elsewhere. The results of these efforts are a series of concrete implementable Guidelines designed to serve as a shared tool for policy makers, regulators and business as they move forward together to develop coherent and comprehensive national wireless broadband masterplans. Addressing the entire end-to-end wireless broadband ecosystem, from content creation to the provision of global internet connectivity, the Guidelines explore the full range of policy, legal and regulatory issues, including spectrum management and innovation support, and as such provide a solid basis for action. The development and use of advanced ICTs across the Asia-Pacific region is a vital goal. I would like to extend special thanks to the Government of the Republic of Korea for the support they have given to the ITU wireless broadband masterplan project. I have every confidence that these Guidelines will make a substantial contribution to ensuring the prioritized national implementation and regional harmonization necessary for this to be achieved. Brahima Sanou Director Telecommunications Development Bureau i Guidelines for the preparation of national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region Executive summary These general guidelines provide countries in the Asia-Pacific region the means to develop their own wireless broadband masterplan and the opportunity to explore wireless broadband issues as part of the development of an overall country broadband masterplan. The three main objectives of the wireless broadband masterplan project are to: 1. Carry out an assessment of existing policy and regulatory frameworks with a view to facilitate deployment of wireless broadband technologies taking into account convergence trends and provide recommendations for future requirements in selected pilot countries. 2. Assessment of user demand and take up of wireless broadband applications, content and services in the Asia-Pacific region. 3. Examine key policy and regulatory issues including licensing, spectrum access/interconnection, deployment of new technologies, rollout of obligations, incentive based regulation, infrastructure sharing, universal service obligations and provide concrete recommendations to promote broadband wireless services vis-à-vis identified national priorities and international best practices. This decade offers countries in the Asia-Pacific region the opportunity to become advanced ICT users, with a countrywide broadband information infrastructure, for which wireless broadband is particularly suitable due to: • its relatively lower shared costs and coverage of geographically separated areas which do not necessarily have high population density, • its ease of penetration, and • its ability to deploy and rollout rapidly. The framework detailed in this document addresses the main aspects of the wireless broadband ecosystem, from content to the provision of global internet connectivity, that can provide widespread affordable wireless broadband services. These Guidelines cover a number of topics of analysis and recommendations including: (i) global and regional context of broadband; (ii) current state of play in the country’s wireless broadband market; (iii) need to ensure legal and regulatory certainty; (iv) management of spectrum scarcity and the need to ensure harmonisation; (v) technologies and innovations in wireless broadband; and (vi) conclusions, recommendation and a suggested roadmap. iii Guidelines for the preparation of national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region Many of the recommendations and insights from the Guidelines are critical to the success of a national wireless broadband policy. Summary of the key issues in the formulation of a wireless broadband masterplan Source: Author Regulatory insights Making spectrum available for affordable wireless broadband services, in frequency spectrum bands designated for mobile/wireless services, is a prerequisite for a good quality wireless broadband masterplan. A masterplan must make spectrum available in harmonised bands which are suitable for the provision of wireless broadband. For developing countries, it may not be possible to use an auction as the process for determining the price for spectrum. Proposals for the pricing of, for example, 3G or 4G spectrum should be consistent with global and regional benchmarks. Some countries may need to use benchmarking studies to determine appropriate prices for 3G or 4G spectrum. It is critical that regulators and governments work as partners with network operators, and the ICT sector in general, rather than viewing involvement in the sector as a means of revenue raising. Governments and regulators should work together to ensure a reasonable return on investments made in wireless broadband. iv Guidelines for the preparation of national wireless broadband masterplans for the Asia Pacific region The role of the regulator must be to act as a facilitator rather than as a tool for intervention. This is crucial in order to create an enabling environment, regulatory certainty and a gradual reliance on market mechanisms to promote wireless broadband services. The requirements of this role include: • developing predictable and transparent regulatory frameworks; • promoting competition; • encouraging investment in infrastructure; • engaging in consultation with industry; and • collection of statistics from operators in order to inform government decision making. This should ideally be done at least quarterly to ensure that information is accurate and up to date. Market policy insights Regulating to provide mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) access to the market is likely to lead to increased offering of innovative service bundles to different segments of the population and to facilitate downstream innovations by mobile network providers in response to an MVNO market entry. While mobile number portability (MNP) is desirable, it is not always necessary and can add considerably to costs and network complexity. When quality of service is already an issue it may be desirable to make MNP a secondary priority. Introduction of competitive safeguards for market operators will help to ensure a level playing field and will promote innovation and development of new technologies as the chief methods of gaining a market advantage. Open access requirements will also achieve this. Investigation of both should be strongly considered alongside the creation of a masterplan. Infrastructure sharing requirements are an effective way to ensure that resources are not wasted on duplication and that competition will be based on innovation rather than on access to equipment. They prevent an incumbent or other significant operator from foreclosing competition from rivals and would promote innovative services as a response to the increased competition