This section features background information and resources relevant to the current research theme. It includes resources produced by WDR and external sources and is organised by regions and topics. An archive of resources recommended in previous research cycles is also available along with news from the WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News Service.

Related Research Items

Nothing related

Related Resources Items

Nothing related
Two new modules of ICT Regulation Toolkit Print E-mail
Written by Victor van Reijswoud   
Monday, 05 February 2007
infodevTwo more modules of the infoDev /ITU ICT Regulation Toolkit were launched in January 2007, bringing to four the number of modules now available for public use. Module 2 on Competition and Price Regulation, and Module 5 on Radio Spectrum Management, now join Module 3 on Authorization of Telecommunication Services and Module 6 on the Legal and Institutional Framework of Regulation. Further modules are expected soon.

Most countries have established or are in the process of establishing regulatory authorities to implement competition-centered policies on ICT reform and ICT infrastructure development. The diffusion, structure, and usage of an ICT infrastructure is influenced by the substantive regulatory standards that are applied, by the way regulators incorporate market considerations into their decisions, and by the relations they establish with the government and the courts, as well as the regulated sector, consumers, and the media. The ICT sector has undergone some dramatic changes lasting recent years, triggered by the market liberalization and privatization of state monopolies, and development of new technologies and the convergence of existing ones, leading now to a merging of markets and services. These developments affect traditional regulatory strategies, raising questions such as how to deal with growing pressure to adopt converged licensing regimes and how to successfully realize the potential of alter-native network infrastructures such as WI-FI and WIMAX to bring both services and high-speed Internet access to urban and rural area.

The ICT Regulation Toolkit helps regulators identify their individually relevant questions and to provide with answers and guidance. The Toolkit is an update and expansion of infoDev's popular and influential Telecom Regulators' Handbook. It is designed as a web-based tool, divided into several modules. The Modules currently planned:

Module 1: Regulating the Telecommunications Sector: Overview (Not yet released)
Module 2: Competition and Price Regulation (Released as Beta)
Module 3: Authorization of Telecommunications Services (Released)
Module 4: Universal Service (Not yet released)
Module 5: Radio Spectrum Management (Released as Beta)
Module 6: Legal and Institutional Framework (Released)
Module 7: New technologies and impact on regulation (Not yet released)

With this strategy and building up on its predecessor's success, the ICT Regulation Toolkit will become a regularly updating and constantly improving live tool to provide regulators, operators, policy makers, sector experts, and the general public the latest on regulation strategies, best practices, and case studies.

The two new modules of the Toolkit, released as beta in January 2007, cover issues as fair competition, interconnection and access, prices, benchmarking and effective price regulation (Module 2), and current trends and technical developments, scope of spectrum use, international and national arrangements, assigning frequency, spectrum pricing, monitoring and enforcement and other key issues (Module 5).

Module 1, Overview, and Module 7, New Technologies and their impact on regulation, are expected in the first half of 2007.  Module 4, Universal Service, is currently being commissioned.