Earlier this week, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced the release of the latest edition of its annual global ICT regulatory report, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016. This report examines a broad range of ICT policy and regulatory trends, along with capturing the views of top experts from a variety of fields, which in turn provides considerable insight into the challenges and opportunities ICT stakeholders are facing, and are likely to face over the next three to five years.
The report is over 170 pages, and so is chock full of numerous insights and findings and may be worth the read for those keen to undertake more thorough study. To varying degrees many of the trends might appear more relevant for developed countries, and not Small Island Developing States, such as those in the Caribbean. However, in the paragraphs below we have sought to highlight three telecoms/ICT trends that are likely to reach across the North-South divide and transform the world as we know it.
1. Competition among carriers and service providers is changing
A key takeaway from the report is the fact that in order to better harness the potential of our digital age, current regulatory models that rely upon competitive forces between players in the market to drive development may be counterproductive at best, and cannot be sustained at worst. There is growing evidence of strategic partnerships being established with non-traditional players in the telecoms space, such as hedge funds, alternative financial institutions, content and services providers, to support the continuous investment in infrastructure.
Additionally, and according to the ITU, as “network coverage becomes less of a competitive differentiator, operators may need to consolidate networks (through network sharing) as a means of moving away from infrastructure investment and towards developing innovative services”. However, when that happens and as indicated above, the competitive climate is likely to change, possibly resulting in, among other things, reduced competition,; more collusion and information sharing among players, and reduced options for services-based competitors (Source: ITU).
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