第5/1号课题： 农村地区和边远地区的电信/ICT

最后报告

前言

国际电联电信发展部门（ITU-D）研究组提供一种文稿驱动工作的中立平台，政府、行业和学术界的专家在此聚集，制定实用的工具和导则并开发资源来解决发展问题。ITU-D成员通过ITU-D研究组的工作，研究和分析以任务为导向的具体电信/ICT课题，从而加快各国发展优先工作的进展。

研究组为所有ITU-D成员提供机会来交流经验、提出想法、交换意见，并就研究处理电信/ICT优先工作的适当战略达成共识。ITU-D研究组负责根据成员提交的输入意见或文稿来制定报告、导则和建议书。国际电联通过调查、文稿和案例研究收集的信息利用内容管理和网络发布工具公开提供，以方便成员的轻松访问。研究组的工作与ITU-D不同计划和举措相关联，以发挥协同作用，使成员在资源和专业知识上受益。与在相关议题领域开展工作的其他群体和组织进行协作至关重要。

ITU-D研究组的研究课题由四年一届的世界电信发展大会（WTDC）决定，每届WTDC为界定下一个四年的电信/ICT发展问题和优先工作制定工作计划和导则。

ITU-D第1研究组的工作范围是研究“发展电信/ICT的有利环境”，ITU-D第2研究组则是研究“ICT应用、网络安全、应急通信和适应气候变化”。

在2014-2017年研究期，由以下人员指导ITU-D第1研究组的工作：主席McElvane Webber（美利坚合众国）和代表六个区域的副主席：Regina Fleur Assoumou-Bessou（科特迪瓦）、Peter Ngwan Mbengie（喀麦隆）、Claymir Carozza Rodriguez（委内瑞拉 ） 、Victor Martinez（巴拉圭）、Wesam Al-Ramadeen（约旦）、Ahmed Abdel Aziz Gad（埃及 ） 、Yasuhiko Kawasumi（日本）、Nguyen Quy Quyen（越南）、Vadym Kaptur（乌克兰 ） 、Almaz Tilenbaev（吉尔吉斯共和国）和Blanca Gonzalez（西班牙）。

最后报告

针对第5/1号课题：“农村地区和边远地区的电信/信息通信技术”的最后报告在报告人Shuichi Nishimoto（日本）的领导下制定，参与工作的有8位副报告人：Edva Altemar（海地 ） 、Yuriy Sergeevich Avanesov（俄罗斯联邦 ） 、白春霞（中华人民共和国 ） 、Christopher Ganizani Banda（马拉维）、Ibrahim A. Kone（马里）、张丽（中华人民共和国 ） 、Tharalika Livera（斯里兰卡 ）和Joseph Bruno Yuma Utchudi（刚果民主共和国 ） 。ITU-D联系人和ITU-D研究组秘书处也协助他们开展工作。

ISBN

978-92-61-22715-9 (Paper version)

978-92-61-22725-8 (Electronic version)

978-92-61-22735-7 (EPUB version)

978-92-61-22745-6 (Mobi version)

本报告由来自不同主管部门和组织的众多志愿人员编写。文中提到的具体公司或产品，并不意味着它们得到了国际电联的认可或推崇。

打印本报告之前，请考虑到环境影响

© ITU 2017

保留所有权利。未经国际电联事先书面许可，
不得以任何手段对本出版物的任何部分进行复制。

目录

前言

最后报告

1 第1章 – 引言

2 第2章 – 背景

2.1 对本课题此前研究期工作的总结

2.2 信息社会世界峰会（WSIS）

2.3 宽带委员会

2.4 国际电联战略规划

2.5 2014年世界电信发展大会（WTDC 2014）的输出成果

2.6 于农村和边远地区研究工作的重要性

3 第3章 – 电信/ICT在农村和边远地区发展面临的挑战

3.1 在本课题此前研究期中讨论的挑战

3.2 在本研究期中讨论的挑战

3.3 在全球问卷调查表回复中所述的挑战

3.4 应对挑战的方法

4 第4章 – 连接农村和边远地区的技术

4.1 面向农村和边远地区的电信

4.2 网络配置模式

4.3 回程技术

4.3.1 一般性调查结果

4.3.2 光网络

4.3.3 微波链路

4.3.4 卫星链路

4.4 接入技术

4.4.1 一般性调查结果

4.4.2 光纤到户

4.4.3 xDSL（双绞线电缆到户）

4.4.4 CATV（电缆到户）

4.4.5 移动网络（3G/4G）

4.4.6 WiFi

4.4.7 卫星宽带接入

4.5 技术选择

4.6 ITU-T和ITU-R在农村和边远地区开展的电信/ICT工作

5 第5章 – 适合农村和边远地区用户需求的服务和应用

5.1 电话（固定电话和移动电话）

5.2 互联网/宽带接入（适合农村和边远地区用户需求的服务和应用）

5.3 电子应用和电子服务

5.3.1 电子金融/电子商务

5.3.2 电子医疗

5.3.3 电子农业

5.3.4 电子政务

5.4 建议

6 第6章 – 农村地区教育领域的ICT

6.1 宽带技术

6.2 挑战

6.3 经济可承受性和资金筹措

6.4 关于第5/1号课题的全球调查

6.5 建议

7 第7章 – 农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展、维护和运营的公共政策、监管措施、资金筹措

7.1 发展中国家农村和边远地区的发展状况

7.2 宽带政策和宽带计划

7.3 普遍服务基金（USF）

7.4 频率分配和许可条件

7.5 多利益攸关方伙伴关系

7.6 对基础设施的支持

7.7 对应用和内容的支持

7.8 能力建设

7.9 政策、监管和资金的重要性

8 第8章 – 商业模式和对运营商的激励

8.1 引言

8.2 商业模式

8.3 对运营商的激励措施

9 第9章 – 结论和导则

鸣谢

Abbreviations and acronyms 47

Annexes 54

Annex 1: All documents received for Question 5/1

Annex 2.1: Analysis of questionnaire replies to the global survey

Annex 2.2: Analysis of questionnaire replies to the global survey – Presentation

Annex 3.1: Measuring the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD)

Annex 3.2: Measuring the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD) – Presentation

Annex 4: Country examples of ICT in education in rural areas

图表目录

表目录

表3：ITU-T FTTx有线宽带标准摘要

图目录

图1：用于连接农村和边远地区的回程技术

图2：用于连接农村和边远地区的接入技术

图3：为农村地区提供国家远程医疗服务的战略性建议

图4：为实现有关农村和边远地区的目标而采取的策略

图5：有关基础设施共享、尤其农村和边远地区基础设施共享的政策

1 第1章 – 引言

2014年世界电信发展大会（WTDC-14）批准通过了国际电联电信发展部门（ITU-D）第1研究组第5/1号课题及其所研究的问题。之前的ITU-D第2研究组已对该课题做了若干期的研究，在此期间，农村和边远地区的电信/ICT[1] 状况已发生了变化。最近，移动宽带技术日益得到普及，终端设备和网络设施因标准化生产而变得越来越便宜。在此方面，考虑到经济优势，适用于农村和边远地区的技术可能需要与已在世界各地得到广泛应用的技术具有共性。有必要对这一领域的发展状况做一研究并与过去做一比较。除了技术，对农村和边远地区的电信/ICT发展而言，公共政策、监管措施、商业模式等也已变得愈加重要。

WTDC-14决定继续推进该研究课题的研究工作，问题状况如下所述：

– 发展中国家人口向城区的迅速迁移可能会给减贫工作带来负面影响，除非我们能够采取措施，通过在这些地区部署电信/ICT，来改善农村和边远地区的环境和生活。

– 有必要进一步研究在农村和边远地区安装成本高效且稳定的基本电信基础设施问题，而且需要向供应商提供具体的成果，以制定适用的解决方案，来应对农村和边远地区的挑战。

– 多数时候，现有网络系统的设计主要面向的是城市地区，人们认为这些地区已存在建立电信网络所需的支撑性基础设施（充足的电力、建筑物/机房、无障碍接入、操作设备的熟练技工等）。因此，为满足农村地区的具体需求，需对现有系统进行适当调整，以便大规模部署。

针对第5/1号课题所研究的问题，自前一研究周期，增加了公共政策与监管措施、商业模式等内容。

为对本课题涉及的问题开展研究，本研究期内，成员国、部门成员、学术成员和研究组的其他成员已向第1研究组会议和报告人小组会议提交了文稿和案例研究报告，如报告附件1和ITU-D案例研究库所示。此外，向国际电联成员发送了关于农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展状况的全球性问卷调查表，而后对问卷调查表的回复进行了分析，结果如报告附件2.1和2.2所示。

2 第2章 – 背景

2.1 对本课题此前研究期工作的总结

ITU-D研究组在几个研究期内一直致力于有关农村和边远地区电信的课题。此研究课题可追溯到WTDC- 94（布宜诺斯艾利斯，阿根廷），在布宜诺斯行动计划（BAP-94）中，同意由第2研究组对这些主题开展研究，课题名称定为第4/2号课题“农村和边远地区的电信”。那之后，对课题名称略有修改，在课题名称中增加了“ICT”（信息通信技术）。在2014-2017年研究周期中，该项研究工作继续进行，作为第1研究组的研究课题，课题名称定为第5/1号课题“农村和边远地区的电信/ICT”。[2]

2002-2006年研究期（第10-1/2号课题）

关于第10-1/2号课题的报告人小组决定从世界五个区域收集案例研究结果，并制定成功实践指南，以便各国更好地解决农村通信发展问题。收集了19个案例研究结果，报告人小组对之进行了分析。在所研究的案例中，绝大多数都部署了先进的技术，它们对项目所在地的环境和条件而言都是可行的。选择的技术是否适合连通农村取决于项目。有用于干线的无线技术，如VSAT和地面无线（固定无线接入（FWA）、无线本地环路（WLL）和Wi-Fi），为加快部署与投放进程、提高成本效率、提高可扩展性、发挥运维优势，在许多案例中部署了本地环路。许多案例研究结果表明，在农村地区良好的能源供应解决方案显得尤为重要。在许多案例中强调指出了计算机技能培训对所有人群的重要性，不论是对儿童来说，还是对老人来说。[3]

2006-2010年研究期（第10-2/2号课题）

关于第10-2/2号课题的报告人小组收集了有关2006-2010年研究周期的20个案例研究结果。以下结论源自案例研究分析结果以及各成员提交的文稿。公私伙伴关系计划通常被认为是为农村项目筹措资金的新方法。有关农村和边远地区ICT设备与基础设施电力供应的解决方案是至关重要的问题。[4]

2010-2014年研究期（第10-3/2号课题）

关于第10-3/2号课题的报告人小组从该研究周期期间收到的文稿中收集了案例研究结果。依据文稿、案例研究输入以及成员的问卷调查表回复，报告人小组对课题进行了研究。案例研究中观察到的两大技术是地面无线技术（如Wi-Fi、WiMAX和码分多址（CDMA））和卫星技术（如收集的案例研究中观察到的、匹配地球静止卫星（GEO）的VSAT）。宽带定义还对最低的数据速率要求做了讨论。宽带委员会的报告得出的结论是，宽带是一种总是在线的服务，并具有高容量：每秒能够传送大量数据，而不只是一个特别的速度。有若干国家对BDT问卷调查表中有关宽带服务各种数据速率的问题作出了回复，但有些国家指出，在其本国政策中定义的下载数据速率为2兆比/秒（Mbps），其他国家则为其光纤网络定义了更高的速率。[5]

2.2 信息社会世界峰会（WSIS）

2003年12月，世界各国在日内瓦召开的信息社会世界峰会（WSIS）上达成一致，通过声明形式，表达了一个“共同的愿望和承诺，建立一个以人为本、包容并蓄、面向发展的信息社会”，从而开创了一个利用信息和通信技术（ICT）帮助实现千年发展目标（MDG）的新时代。由此产生的日内瓦行动计划确立了各项目标和十一条行动路线，作为推动各个特定领域发展的指南。联合国大会（UNGA）在其决议中对日内瓦阶段取得的成就表示认可。

2005年在突尼斯开展的WSIS第二阶段工作建立于日内瓦计划的成果基础之上，形成了旨在解决更多问题的突尼斯议程，如融资和互联网治理。它还请求秘书长会商行政首长协调会（CEB），在CEB内建立一个由UN相关组织组成的、关于信息社会的联合国小组（UNGIS），授权付诸实施WSIS的成果。

联合国大会采纳了大会高级别会议关于全面审查信息社会世界峰会成果实施情况的成果文件：

“我们进一步表示关注，在发达国家与发展中国家之间仍存在数字鸿沟，许多发展中国家缺乏经济上负担得起的ICT接入手段。到2015年，在发展中国家中，只有34%的家庭接入了互联网，且国与国之间存在巨大差异，相比之下，在发达国家，80%以上的家庭已接入互联网。这意味着，居住在发展中国家的三分之二的人口仍处于离线状态。

此外，我们呼吁大幅提高ICT的接入率，并鼓励所有的利益相关方努力为所有的人提供普遍的和经济上负担得起的互联网接入手段。我们欢迎所有的利益相关方努力追求这些目标，包括正在积极推进的、2014年在国际电联全权代表会议上批准通过的“连通目标2020议程”工作”。[6]

作为WSIS C2行动方面 – 信息和通信基础设施 – 的唯一推进者以及ICT/电信领域主导的国际组织，国际电信联盟（ITU）已从多个角度对宽带基础设施进行了研究。自1994年以来，ITU-D研究组一直都在研究关于农村和边远地区电信的课题，并收集了众多关于宽带通信发展的、实用的和有价值的案例研究结果。

2.3 宽带委员会

宽带数字发展委员会是由国际电联和联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）于2010年5月发起成立的。委员会声明，其目标是提升宽带在国际政策议程中的重要性，扩大每个国家的宽带接入对在2015年目标日期前加速推进实现千年发展目标（MDG）而言至关重要。

联合国宽带委员会每年一度的《宽带现状》报告，为全球宽带行业把脉，探讨宽带在连接全球每个人上的进展。2015年报告发现，尽管移动宽带和脸谱的使用增势强劲，且移动蜂窝订用在2015年首次超过70亿，但移动蜂窝订用和互联网使用的增长已骤然放缓，因此，互联网的增长达到了一个转折点。

联合国宽带委员会2011年确立的目标或最佳预期未能在2015年（目标日期）如期实现，看起来很可能最早要到2020年才能实现了。40亿互联网用户的阶段性目标也不可能在2020年前达成。针对某些主要的、基于万维网的服务的线上可用语言，其增长跟不上互联网应用总的发展步伐。为成功迈过这一转折点，并实现对所有人普遍可用的和更便宜的互联网接入，还需要所有利益相关方巨大的努力、更好的协调和更有效地利用现有的资源。[7]

2.4 国际电联战略规划

国际电联第19届全权代表会议（PP-14）于2014年10-11月在韩国釜山召开，批准通过了2016-2019年国际电联《战略规划》和《财务规划》，以及为电信/ICT部门的未来确定了清晰愿景和共同目标的“连通目标2020议程”。

第71号决议（2014年，釜山，修订版）强调，必须将战略规划、财务规划和运作规划联系起来，作为衡量实现国际电联目的和目标进展的途径。

第200号决议描述了“关于全球电信/ICT发展的连通目标2020议程”。该决议的附件列出了4项目的和17项具体目标。在这些具体目标中，以下与农村和边远地区的电信/ICT有关。

– 具体目标1.1：在全球范围内，55%的家庭应该在2020年接入互联网。

– 具体目标2.1.A：在发展中国家，50%的家庭应该在2020年接入互联网。

– 具体目标2.1.B：在最不发达国家（LDC），15%的家庭应该在2020年接入互联网。

– 具体目标2.4：在全球范围内，宽带服务应该在2020年覆盖90%的农村人口。

通过“连通目标2020议程”，国际电联成员国致力于努力实现共同的愿景 – 一个在互联的世界支撑下的信息社会，在电信/ICT的作用和推动下，为了每一个人，加速实现社会、经济和环境的可持续增长和发展，并要求所有的利益相关方，为成功实现“连通目标2020议程”，积极提出倡议、分享经验、贡献资质、发挥特长。

PP-14还批准通过了第139号决议（2014年，釜山，修订版），旨在寻求制定利用无线电通信系统等现有技术推动缩小数字鸿沟的公共和私营投资政策。题为“利用电信/信息通信技术弥合数字鸿沟并建设包容性信息社会”的决议，还凸显了与相关国际和区域组织加强合作的重要性。[8]

2.5 2014年世界电信发展大会（WTDC 2014）的输出成果

国际电联第六届世界电信发展大会（WTDC）于2014年3-4月在迪拜举行。WTDC-14批准通过了下列项目，作为实现为ITU-D制定的五项目标和十五项相关输出成果（产品和服务）的具体框架，以在未来四年加快全球连通进程。

有关电信/ICT网络（包括一致性和互操作性）项目和缩小标准化工作差距的目的是帮助国际电联成员国和ITU-D部门成员和部门准成员最大限度地利用适当的新技术，以发展其信息通信基础设施和服务。一些具体的工作领域包括：频谱管理和无线电监测、广播、下一代网络、宽带网络（包括IMT的有线和无线技术）、一致性和互操作性（C&I）及农村通信。

在农村通信方面，应当看到，各国的农村地区人口的通信覆盖率仍然较低，在电信运营商看来覆盖农村地区不是可行的商业方案。最近在移动电话技术的刺激下，城市地区电信普及率得到提高，这意味着农村和城市地区之间的数字差距加大了。建立回程链路连接的成本仍然较高。电力供应不稳定或能源的完全缺失是一个重大障碍，尽管光伏电源日益成为更可行的选择方案。

因此，电信发展局的重点工作将是提供适当的接入、回程和供电电源技术的信息，以便向农村、无服务和服务欠缺地区提供电信服务；落实有关公共/社区宽带接入点项目；传播有关最新技术（包括卫星）和最佳做法的信息和分析结果。[9]

WTDC-14同意保留ITU-D的两个研究组，并确定了其职责范围。大会批准通过了2014-2017年研究周期的新课题和修订课题。大会决定将课题“农村和边远地区的电信/ICT”交由ITU-D第1研究组来研究。

2.6 于农村和边远地区研究工作的重要性

根据联合国人口处的统计结果（2014年），据估计，全球近一半的人口在农村，他们中的许多人正从农村地区搬往城市地区。人口从农村地区迁移到城市地区预计将逐年增长。这可能是由于农村地区艰难的生活和经济条件而造成的。

在发展中国家的农村和边远地区，电信/ICT的发展是缓慢的，除非在这些国家有特殊的政策、倡议和政府补贴予以支持。在发展中国家人口稀少的农村地区提供电信/ICT服务，如基本的语音、短信、视频会议和网络服务，通常并不是有利可图。

因此，根据电信发展局主任关于“衡量信息社会（2014）”[10]的报告，在许多发展中国家普遍存在城乡数字鸿沟问题。在个人/家庭ICT接入、ICT技能和固定/移动电信基础设施等层面，可强烈感受到城市和农村社区之间存在的差距。

通过先前的研究，从许多国家的经验可以清晰地看到，有各种各样用于在农村和边远地区实施电信/ICT的技术和策略，国与国相互之间是存在差异的。此外，农村和边远地区的社会、经济和技术状况也在急剧地变化中。因此，继续开展对农村和边远地区电信/ICT课题的研究显得非常重要。

3 第3章 – 电信/ICT在农村和边远地区发展面临的挑战

3.1 在本课题此前研究期中讨论的挑战

ITU-D第10-3/2号课题研究的农村和边远地区被定义为远离大城市或城镇且与城区和郊区相比大多数人口都比较稀少的地区。在某些国家，将这类地区定义为人口少于2 500人的地区。农村和边远地区对农耕活动等的依赖程度很高，并可能具有以下特征：

1) 由于距离、地形、公路/运输网络不健全和某些农村社区边远而造成交通不便问题；

2) 缺乏充足的正常电力供应等基本有利的基础设施；

3) 缺乏充足的电信基础设施；

4) 因以上地理上相关的问题的组合而造成的物理接入和设备安装费用；

5) 目标人口的地理密度低（即村庄人口少、社区居民分散，地理上与其他地区隔离 ） ；

6) 农村人口收入较低，缺乏可支配收入且相对贫困；

7) 某些农村地区文盲率较高；

8) 对现代电信业务的益处了解甚少（甚至不了解），导致某些地区当前需求低；

9) 全面缺乏（公共和私营）资金；

10) 其他。

在整个电信/ICT/宽带生态系统中，从以下七个方面介绍这些挑战：从政策制定者和监管机构的角度、从运营商的角度、从消费者的角度、从厂商的角度、从客户终端设备（CPE）制造商的角度、从内容开发商的角度、从国际组织以及双边和多边捐赠机构的角度。[11]

3.2 在本研究期中讨论的挑战

在提交给第5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，对若干国家中农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展面临的挑战做了介绍。

斯里兰卡在其文稿中描述了农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展面临的挑战，如下所示：[12]

a) 高昂的安装和运行费用

对不是高度发达、缺乏适当的基础设施（这将增加部署成本和运营成本）以支持部署的地区，已经完成大多数的在农村和边远地区的部署工作。此类部署面临的主要挑战与交通、电力相关的投资、建设相关的投资等有关。需要通过使用发电机来弥补电力缺乏问题，以及需要通过专门的方法来克服缺乏适当的道路基础设施问题，以保证充足的电力供应和适当的道路基础设施，将增加运营成本。

b) 人口稀少和潜在低的每用户平均收入（ARPU）

大多数农村和边远地区的人口密度低、ARPU低，这是由这些地区的社会和经济原因造成的。ARPU和服务人数是收入的直接驱动因素，人口密度是运营成本的直接驱动因素。此外，低人口密度需要更多的投资来适应电信部署。对宽带部署和发展而言，这是一个严重的瓶颈，相比其“前辈”，宽带技术部署的覆盖率会更低。

c) 缺乏电力供应

电力供应短缺是农村或边远社区的一个主要特性，这将导致与电池组和发电机有关的投资增加。进一步地，发电机的使用将增加与运营有关的成本，原因是，相比国家供电成本，这种用法是昂贵的。在许多情况下，运营商选择考虑其他投资方案，如太阳能、风能等，使用发电机需要更大的投资，以适应这样的部署。

d) 缺少技术人员

如上所述，人口密度低，加上边远和农村地区存在的较差的社会和经济条件，造成了一种缺乏技术人员的环境。尽管中央政府主管部门着力推动电信相关的投资与部署，但其部署和运营需要通过一个分布式的人员网络来处理，为运营之，这需要更高水平的技术能力。

e) 手机生态系统

手机生态系统促进电信技术的部署，也就是说，手机生态系统将激励运营商开展此类部署。支持不同频段上的不同IMT技术，是一个关键因素，这将提供必要的需求因素，以便于部署。

f) 地理条件

地理条件主要影响有线通信系统的部署，它给部署带来一种不断变化的地形条件。不过，无线部署可能会受到影响，原因是为了应对地形条件方面的挑战，需要提高基站数量方面的要求。

g) ICT素养

为成功推广和普及电信相关产品，可以多种方式来描述ICT素养和文化属性。与发达国家相比，发展中国家缺乏ICT素养，这成为成功推广和普及互联网服务的瓶颈。

在中华人民共和国，农村宽带发展面临的最大挑战是高昂的网络建设和维护成本。虽然在某些特殊的应用领域有宽带补贴/来自中央政府和地方政府的专款基金，但几乎每一种宽带补贴针对的都是示范项目，并要求有自己的配套资金。大多数有关宽带建设的专款基金都是逐年安排的，缺乏针对长期发展的系统考虑。[13]

农村宽带面临诸多挑战：

– 农村全光接入是一项巨大的建设工程。

– 农村宽带面临更大的投资和更低的收入，一个公司的力量是微弱的。

– 农村宽带缺乏可持续的商业应用。[14]

在海地，农村和边远地区典型的基本困难往往会遏制投资。除这些困难之外，还缺少本地维护技术人员对设备的维护和维修请求做出快速响应。[15]

在几内亚，造成农村和边远地区缺乏或甚至是没有电信/ICT基础设施与服务的原因是由于电信运营商在该地区无法盈利。[16]

科特迪瓦指出，需要提出一种用于评估牌照费用的方法。在许多国家，特别是在许多非洲国家，为更新2G移动电话牌照以及向电信运营商发放新的牌照（3G、4G和一般性牌照），当务之急是需要考虑评估牌照的费用问题，以及进一步地，使用要求之频率的费用问题。[17]

刚果民主共和国的农村和闭塞地区面临下列困难：

– 农村和闭塞地区由于缺乏基本基础设施而导致人口大流逃离。

– 由于具备ICT接入功能的电话价格昂贵，因此75%的农村和闭塞地区人口无法接入ICT应用。

– 大多数人因为贫困被排除在享用电信/ICT应用之外。[18]

英特尔公司（美国）指出，缺电是一个严重问题，尤其在农村地区，为给教育领域提供ICT技术和服务，需要考虑到这个问题。太阳能、风能或其他可选方案均可作为一种解决办法。[19]

3.3 在全球问卷调查表回复中所述的挑战

ITU-D第1研究组在其2015年9月召开的会议上达成一致，向国际电联成员发出一份通函，要求就农村和边远地区接入和连通的具体事宜提供输入文件。问卷调查表发给国际电联成员国的主管部门和观察员（第99号决议）、ITU-D部门成员、准成员和学术成员、ITU-D第1研究组和第2研究组的管理团队以及观察员（区域和国际组织）。从45个国家共收到了46个条目。[20]

对此项调查收到的所有输入和文稿进行了编纂，作为本报告的附件2.1和附件2.2，以帮助各国增强其能力，应对涉及生活在农村和边远地区的人们接入问题的挑战。关于农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展面临的挑战，问到了一个问题，如下所示：

7.5 在农村和边远地区部署电信/ICT的过程中遇到了哪些问题或挑战？

– 对该问题，收到了37份回复（82.22%）；

– 在回复中，许多国家提到了因距离、地形和低下的交通网络质量而造成的地理性接入问题。哥斯达黎加、巴拿马、苏丹、肯尼亚、刚果民主共和国、阿富汗、委内瑞拉、巴西等回答了这些问题。

许多国家提到了缺乏电力供应。巴拿马、乌干达、尼泊尔、肯尼亚、喀麦隆、刚果民主共和国、中非共和国、委内瑞拉等均面临这些挑战。

因高昂的安装和运营成本而缺乏适当的电信基础设施是一个问题。巴基斯坦、乌干达、尼泊尔、喀麦隆、巴拉圭、土耳其、刚果民主共和国、中非共和国、瑞士、巴西等均面临这一问题。

一些国家提到了因人口密度低、收入低而给小市场造成的困难问题。以色列、尼泊尔、西班牙、墨西哥、肯尼亚、斯里兰卡、巴拉圭、波兰、古巴、秘鲁、澳大利亚、丹麦等显示都碰到了这种难处。

对调查的一些回复提到了监管问题，包括频率分配。当中包括巴勒斯坦、斯里兰卡、哥斯达黎加等国。

最后的挑战涉及教育，如文化。尼泊尔和中非共和国提到了这个问题。

3.4 应对挑战的方法

如上所见，农村和边远地区的电信/ICT发展面临若干类型的挑战。数字鸿沟被定义为“在部署、获取和使用ICT过程中的不平等”，但这一术语有许多不同层面的内涵。（除了国际数字鸿沟）城乡数字鸿沟是最常提到的、主要的数字鸿沟。这是目前世界许多国家和地区存在的一个主要问题。现在有相当多的文献对城市/农村数字鸿沟进行了描述。本报告附件3.1和附件3.2对现有的各种衡量方法做了概述，目前已对当中的一些例子进行了度量。[21],[22] 由于上述挑战，目前城市与农村之间的数字鸿沟依然很大。

为了应对这些挑战，需要不同方面的方法。例如，应该通过政策和规则来弥补位置方面存在的不足，如宽带政策、计划、普遍服务基金。高昂的电信基础设施安装和运营成本可以通过新技术来平衡。因市场小而造成的挑战应该作为商业模式来讨论。农村和边远地区的教育是重要的，ICT服务和应用可有效解决这一问题。

4 第4章 – 连接农村和边远地区的技术

4.1 面向农村和边远地区的电信

网络通常配置为两部分：回程部分和接入部分。有时分为三个部分：核心、回程和接入；其中，回程部分用于路由从蜂窝站点（或存在点）到核心网络的流量。由于这些分类有时因现代电信配置的复杂性而是不明确的，为使参数简单，核心或回程部分在本研究报告中简单地称为“回程”。

回程有更高的速度来从各种各样的终端设备传送大量信息。回程部分以及接入部分可以通过有线的或无线的解决方案来实现。下面的章节对经由光纤、地面无线和卫星的解决方案做了概述。

在回程部分和接入部分，既用了无线技术，也用了有线技术。长期以来，这两种技术是竞争性的技术，但有时也彼此互补。在光缆发明后，将之用于回程已成为国家级网络的标准设计样式。另一方面，分散的接入网络区域也使得无线技术与有线技术同样有效。这是专门针对农村和边远地区的案例，在这些地区，拉电缆是一项艰巨的任务。[23]

4.2 网络配置模式

表1显示了用于网络接入部分和回程部分的技术。下面的分类和对应的技术描述针对的是那些适用于宽带连接的传播方法。出于比较目的，提到了一些历史技术，尽管当中的许多技术仍在使用。

考虑到农村信息通信技术发展的需要，基于对传统网络资源的利用，对无线网络结构的特性和共享建设的利益进行了分析。例如中华人民共和国，在其文件中，提出了对农村地区的无线宽带网络采用分层结构的主意。[24]

动态频谱接入（DSA）描述的一组技术使用具有射频功能的位置感知设备和在线数据库，以在未许可或免许可的基础上使用可用或未用的无线电频谱来实现机会传输。在上一研究期曾就此开展研究，并认为其适用于农村通信。更多相关信息见第9号决议的最后报告 – 各国特别是发展中国家对频谱管理的参与。

表1：用于农村连接的技术

技术

终端移动性

接入

回程

有线

光缆

—

光纤到户

光缆，包括OPGW

铜缆

—

铜缆、对绞线电缆到户

同轴电缆，包括海底电缆

无线

地面

移动

移动网络，如
Wi-Fi、WiMax 、
2G、3G、LTE

—

固定

固定无线接入

地面微波

经由卫星

移动

卫星网络

—

固定

卫星链路/V-SAT

卫星链路/V-SAT

4.3 回程技术

4.3.1 一般性调查结果

根据报告人小组关注的、有关ITU-D第1研究组第5/1号课题的全球调查结果，用于连接农村和边远地区的回程技术如下所示：

图1：用于连接农村和边远地区的回程技术

4.3.2 光网络

在多数情况下，光纤是网络边缘和核心之间回程的理想媒介。鉴于用户间数据交换量的显著增长，回程必须应对三网合一、视频点播、HDTV、IPTV、视频会议、互动视频和视频游戏、云计算和数据传送等需极高数据速率的、不断增长的需求。

为将岛屿与大陆或主岛相连，需要使用海底电缆。它们已经在用，主要作为国际电信链路。海底光缆是一种特殊的缆线，拥有特殊的铠装。一些岛国已经铺设了无转发器的海底光缆，用于连接几百千米外的外岛。

4.3.3 微波链路

可用若干技术来连接站址与核心网络：

– 点到点（PtP）：这是传统技术，采用细窄的铅笔状波束连接两点；

– 点到多点（PtMP）：在该方式中，一端使用较宽的波束，以使之覆盖可能包含若干其他端点的、相对较大的地区；

– 多点到多点或网状：在此方式中，多个端点与潜在的多个其他端点进行通信，流量在这些端点之间得到路由。

无线回程可采用频分双工（FDD）模式，其中包含一对频率，每一方向一个；或者时分双工（TDD）模式，在上行链路/下行链路方向之间共用容量。

阿尔卡特-朗讯提出了菊花链方式的分组无线电微波链路，连接到最近的IMT大网络基站上，目标是在农村地区与基站之间实现最大3-4跳。这种方法的主要优点是，通过使用这样一种回程方案，可带来与微波无线电有关的较低成本以及与IMT连接相关的较低延迟。

4.3.4 卫星链路

地面基础设施往往集中在城市中心，农村和边远地区覆盖有限，阻碍了这些地区的人们从信息社会中受益。卫星网络、地面设备和应用的持续进步使卫星技术日益成为成本效益很高的解决方案，从而构成通信和宽带接入战略以及国家宽带规划的关键组成部分，在确保边远和农村地区的覆盖方面尤其如此。

基于卫星的GSM/3G回程方案在拓展全球、特别是发展中国家市场的移动电话和移动宽带网络延伸与覆盖方面发挥着日益重要的作用。随着政府确保为所有公民提供移动连接的工作的深入，卫星回程方案将在为地面技术本身不能构成经济可行、地理可达的方案地区提供连接方面继续发挥重要作用。

使用卫星回程还实现了连接冗余。光纤骨干网受损可能导致地面基站与核心网络断开，而卫星回程具有的额外分集可确保该连接不被中断，即便地面基础设施遭到严重损坏。

在阿根廷，在国家电信计划框架内，启动了名为“连通的阿根廷”的计划，其目标是利用卫星天线（VSAT卫星）实现农村和边界地区校园的互联网连接。

该举措是对阿根廷境内联邦光纤网络部署的补充，农村和边境地区近2500家学校均免费安装了固定天线，利用之，通过VSAT卫星，接入互联网连接业务。因为接入而使学生们可以利用信息通信技术来求学。

阿尔卡特-朗讯国际公司（法国）指明：卫星连接是一种很好的、对小蜂窝（用于农村宽带部署）提供回程的选择方案。延迟仍然是这种方法面临的主要挑战，不过，拉丁美洲的一些服务提供商在Ka波段上利用带有回程卫星连接的户外IMT小蜂窝进行了测试，获得了非常好的结果。[25][26]

KDDI公司（日本）提出了若干带有卫星回程的移动基站例子，如调度车载基站、恢复带有卫星回程的大基站和带有卫星回程的毫微微蜂窝。它描绘了一种使用带有卫星回程的毫微微蜂窝的网络配置方案，它类似于大基站的方案。由于毫微微蜂窝采用以太网接口，因此基于IP的卫星系统与毫微微蜂窝之间具有很高的亲和力。由于可以在多个毫微微蜂窝之间共享带宽，因此毫微微蜂窝能使卫星带宽得到有效利用，并且在闲置状态时，毫微微蜂窝不浪费带宽，即只发送/接收小型的“保持活着”数据包。在IP报头中，毫微微蜂窝对语音和数据通信采用独特的ToS（服务类型）值。VSAT应该能够优先考虑语音数据包，以其服务质量（QoS）功能保持声音的质量。[27]

4.4 接入技术

4.4.1 一般性调查结果

根据报告人小组关注的、有关ITU-D第1研究组第5/1号课题的全球调查结果，用于连接农村和边远地区的接入技术如下所示：

图2：用于连接农村和边远地区的接入技术

4.4.2 光纤到户

光纤能够提供高的带宽，在接入网中承载综合话音、数据和视频业务，距离可超20千米而无需中继器。

光纤有线网络可有若干种不同的配置，这取决于光纤的终结点：光纤到户（FTTH ） 、光纤到大楼（FTTB）、光纤到路边（FTTC）和光纤到节点（FTTN）。在上述各种情况中，光纤网络都在光网络单元（ONU）处终结。

不同的FTTx版本通过ONU的位置来区分。对FTTH，ONU置于用户所在地，作为运营商与客户设施之间的界限。对FTTB和FTTC，ONU作为若干用户的共同接口（例如，一个公寓楼的地下室或一个电话线杆），服务通过客户现有的TWP（双绞线）引入电缆来提供。经由TWP的xDSL（将在下一节中对之进行讨论）常用于从FTTB和FTT配置中的ONU来提供服务。对FTTN，ONU置于在用的网络节点上，为数十到数百用户提供服务，服务通过现有的TWP本地环路来提供。

对FTTx，有两种常见的体系结构：“点到点”（PtP）和无源光网络（PON）。在PtP配置中，用一条专门的光纤（一根或两根光纤）直接将ONU与电话交换机相连。在PON网络中，若干ONU（通常不超过32个）共享至网络的单一光纤连接。在无源网络节点处，为每个ONU分离信号。

在中华人民共和国，在四川省，中国电信开发了“宽带村”项目，创造了“农村宽带”的创新模式，造就了一个农村地区光网络的新时代。针对农村地区的特殊情况，它使用各种各样的新材料和光分布网络（ODN）技术，降低了工程造价，提高了项目效率。现在，四川省已经在3100多个镇和2100个行政村实现了全光纤接入，并成为中国第一个全光纤接入省。通过国家和地方政府支持、引入合作、规划指南、技术管理创新、互联网+IPTV入口创新，中国电信创建了一种优秀的“宽带乡村”建设模式。[28]

4.4.3 xDSL（双绞线电缆到户）

综合业务数字网（ISDN）是人们在构建完全数字化电话/电信网络方面的第一次尝试（不同于在模拟交换电路上使用调制解调器）。ISDN为每个用户提供一个或两个64 kb/s的数字业务信道和一个16 kb/s的数字信道。这一网络的设计初衷是为了以数字形式经传统的公众交换电话网（PSTN）以标准网络和设备接口用TWP本地环路电缆来传输话音、数据、图像和视频。它没有让自己成为流行的宽带接入技术。不过，128 kbps的速度，即两倍于64 kbps的速度，被认为是数字“宽带”的速度。

ISDN并未作为数字服务而被广泛采用，取而代之的是数字用户线（DSL - 最初的“数字用户环路”），作为一种宽带有线技术。

DSL利用高于话音业务所用频率的频率在PSTN上传送数字信号。因此，客户可以同时使用电话和电脑，这样，计算机网络连接可以“总是在线”。有若干类型的DSL：不对称的DSL（ADSL），其上传速度比下载速度要高；对称的DSL（SDSL），其上传速度和下载速度相同；对称的高速DSL（SHDSL）和非常高速的DSL（VDSL）。

通过改变功率电平和频谱特性、采用先进调制技术、信道绑定和噪声管理，实现了性能方面的改进。目前还存在先进版的ADSL和VDSL，如ADSL2、VDSL2和ADSL2+。

由于使用传统的PSTN物理设施，因此DSL易于部署。不过，现有的本地环路物理特性对传输质量做了某种限定。随着网络运营商DSL调制解调器（DSLAM、DSL接入多路复用器）与用户DSL调制解调器之间距离的加大，传输速率会降低。

4.4.4 CATV（电缆到户）

在一些国家，常用有线电视（CATV）网络来满足视频服务的需求。由于CATV通常采用具备传送视频信号能力的同轴电缆，因此CATV接入网适于提供宽带服务，来与现有的电信运营商展开竞争。1997年，电缆传输数据服务接口规范（DOCSIS）发布。该规范将高速数据通信增加到了现有的CATV系统中。使用DOCSIS，CATV运营商在其视频网络上提供了竞争性的数据通信服务，并随着IP语音（VoIP）的发展，提供了与POTS类似的业务。最新版本的标准 - DOCSIS 3.0 - 从网络到终端最多可绑定8个信道，向光节点最高可提供343 Mbit/s的传输速率。CATV采用该技术可向用户提供高达100 Mbit/s的接入速率。

4.4.5 移动网络（3G/4G）

无线通信覆盖的使用面积广。在许多方面有区别：固定的对漫游的/移动的、需要许可的对无需许可的、点到点对点到多点。

为了应对有关用户使用样式、频谱监管与技术网络样式的这些需求，国际电联提出了一个大的建议书，即ITU-R M.1801建议书，它包含“宽带无线接入系统的无线电接口标准，包括工作于6 GHz以下频段的移动业务中的移动和漫游应用”。

这些标准支持城区、郊区和农村地区有关通用宽带互联网数据和实时数据的广泛应用，包括如语音和视频会议等应用。

ITU-R M.2012建议书包含有关先进IMT（先进国际移动通信）地面无线电接口的详细规范。它包括两个先进IMT无线电接口：

– 先进LTE无线电接口技术。

– 先进无线城域网（WirelessMAN）无线电接口技术。

与这些ITU-R建议书并列，3GPP系列标准为现代无线移动网络提供了广泛的选择。

在布隆迪，通过与国际电联的合作，它实现了宽带无线连接及ICT应用，为布隆迪的学校和医院提供了免费的或低成本的数字接入，还有一个目标是为布隆迪农村和边远地区的服务欠缺人群提供数字接入服务。布隆迪政府为与ONATEL合作的项目提供了所有必要的批文，为项目设备免除了一切费用（关税、其他税费），并为无线网络分配了36 MHz的带宽，与此同时，国际电联为项目管理提供了必要的人力资源（立项、实施、监督、监测和评估）。项目将铺设无线宽带基础设施，并将开展人力资源建设，以确保网络的可持续发展。[29]

在巴西，用来提供宽带接入的主要技术是xDSL（数字用户线）和电缆调制解调器。然而，3G系统或GSM系统等移动技术被用来服务边远地区。该国亦建立了一个监管框架，鼓励对ICT行业进行投资。[30]

4.4.6 WiFi

宽带RLAN，通常被称为WiFi，如那些基于IEEE 802.11标准的技术，允许在短距离上高速接入互联网。RLAN，结合网状网络架构，从热点提供扩展覆盖。这种Wi-Fi加网状架构结构可为本地接入网络提供一种便利的方式，而无需许可证。

ITU R M.1450建议书包含“宽带无线局域网的特性”，并包括技术参数、关于无线局域网（RLAN）标准和操作特性的信息。该建议书包含各项宽带RLAN标准，且附件中的信息为关于RLAN（包括特性）的一般性信息。

典型的应用为在家庭、SOHO、学校、医院、酒店、会议中心、机场、购物中心等地提供的公共和私人无线接入。今天，宽带无线局域网（RLAN）已被广泛用于多种宽带应用，用于半固定的（可搬移的）设备和便携式计算机设备，如笔记本电脑和智能手机。其主要特征是可移植性。Wi-Fi提供高数据速率和系统吞吐量，但地理覆盖范围仅限于约100米。

在日本长野县盐尻市农村地区，据国家地震调查指出，该地区未来三十年内发生8.0级左右地震的概率为14%，其所在地区严酷的自然环境需要设立防灾机构。[31]

鉴于这些情况，作为内务省（通信部）2012财年“促进ICT城市发展项目”的承办方，该市创建了一个由各种各样相互连通的传感器构成的特设无线通信网，旨在缓解灾害、创建高级风险管理系统、建立安全城市来稳定地方基建设施，并实现传感器制造的本地化，为地区工业发展做出贡献。

该系统可与盐尻市现有的FTTH网络兼容，通过特设无线通信网络的传感器共同收集泥石流探测器、水位探测器、兽害探测器、城内环线公交跟踪探测器以及儿童和老人定位探测器的数据，并将采集来的信息置于专用的云环境内。此外，该项目还提供移动终端，同时通过互联网、扩展WiFi网络和区域性1段广播来展示采集的数据。

该系统不仅能够用于应急或救灾，亦能用于人民的日常生活。WiFi热点和移动DTV台站用作人们收集信息和相互会面的信息交流场所。

4.4.7 卫星宽带接入

用于卫星通信的频段定义了所需的天线尺寸及其能力：

– L频段（1.5/1.6 GHz）由非对地静止轨道（NGEO）和对地静止轨道（GEO）系统使用。对GEO系统，在卫星平台上使用大型天线（如直径为10-20米），以便在地球表面提供很多小型点波束。由于该范围可用频谱有限，因此数据速率有限（目前约为500 kbit/s）。L频段频率实际上不会受到传播损伤影响。

– C频段（4/6 GHz）传输要求使用相比下面所述的Ku频段和Ka频段更大的蝶型天线。相比更高的频率，C频段传输受雨衰和其他天气情况的影响更小。

– Ku频段（11-12/14 GHz）的波长更短，因此方便采用更小的碟型天线（相比C频段 ） 。不过，更高的频率使Ku频段更易受到诸如雨衰等大气条件的影响。具体应用包括VSAT、农村电话和宽带、卫星新闻采集、回程链路、可视会议和多媒体。

– Ka频段（20/30 GHz）比Ku频段的波长更短，因此方便采用尺寸更小的碟型天线；不过，其传输也更易受到不良天气条件的影响。有望在此频段实现高带宽交互式服务，包括高速互联网、可视会议和多媒体应用。

考虑到卫星独特的区域和全球覆盖能力，利用现有的卫星资源，能够立即提供互联网和宽带连接，甚至为边远地区提供这种连接。

对地静止轨道（GEO）卫星通信系统可为固定或移动用户终端提供宽带服务。通过采用大型卫星天线，可为小用户终端提供宽带服务，从而充分利用大型卫星天线的增益。在同一服务区域内，具有多波束天线的GEO卫星系统将比具有单个全球波束天线的系统拥有更大的容量。

使用非对地静止卫星轨道（NGEO）的卫星系统通常其轨道高度低于对地静止卫星（GEO）系统，后者的运行高度约为36 000公里。有一类NGEO卫星系统使用中地球轨道（“MEO”），即它围绕赤道的椭圆轨道。其他在低地球轨道（LEO）运行的NGEO卫星系统有时在围绕赤道的圆形倾斜轨道中，对诸如斯堪的纳维亚等高纬度国家可以提供更好的覆盖。还有其他一些MEO系统采用轨道一点离地球更近、但相对一点离地球更远的椭圆轨道。相比GEO，MEO卫星系统拥有各种优势：负担得起的成本、高吞吐量、更短的延迟，但需要更多的卫星来覆盖相同的地理区域。

随着电子政务举措、企业网络、农村地区宽带需求、视频电话、移动电话和移动宽带服务的增长，世界各发展中国家都在经历着VSAT部署的巨大发展。

在布基纳法索，SES宽带业务公司为布基纳法索的议会和市政选举提供了卫星宽带服务。在此案例中，卫星技术被视作为布基纳法索边远站点提供连通保障的一种可行方式，其优势在于部署迅速、覆盖快捷、可用性好。重要的是，部署的基础设施在大选之后将为布基纳法索政府提供互联网接入，为学校、公共办公场所和边远乡村提供数字服务。

卫星宽带技术的发展，包括高通量卫星（HTS）的引入，改善了卫星服务的性能和容量，并降低了成本，使得卫星宽带现成为世界范围内固定宽带一种可行的选择方案。卫星不仅是适合农村和边远地区的一种技术，对在以下环境中提供连接而言也是一种重要的技术，即地面解决方案（有线的和无线的）在当中往往无法有效实施的环境。此外，在具有挑战性的地理环境中，卫星尤其有用。这可包括山区，其间进行视线通信很困难，以及严酷的环境，如恶劣天气、灰尘、风、烟雾所在的地区或者极冷、极热地区，或者因其他因素而造成地面宽带解决方案无法运营或不可靠。

投资卫星业务有助于开发固定最后一英里接入和回程解决方案之外的技术。通过发挥移动连接技术的优势和作用，卫星业务可以满足许多政府目标，并为不同工业领域的可持续发展创造平台。通过将边远社区连接至关键资源和世界其他地方，卫星通信也支持电子学习和电子健康计划。最后，在重大灾难后的那一时刻，手机和便携式卫星通信常常是唯一可用的连接选择方案，那时，救援人员、公共安全、军事人员均需要依靠卫星通信来挽救生命和重建秩序。

卫星连接对工业和商业应用而言也十分有效，尤其对农村和边远地区而言。可靠的卫星网络有时是唯一的、实现机器对机器（M2M）和物联网（IoT）连接的解决方案。最后，卫星连接为孤岛般社区享用其可能缺乏的银行和金融服务提供了可能，将促进经济的可持续发展和社区的连接。[32]

4.5 技术选择

在前一节中对宽带网络的无线和有线技术进行了描述。虽然有很多可用的通信技术，但我们可列出一些基本的选择准则，用于指导选择正确的混合技术。无线和有线技术在相互竞争或相互合作中得到了进步，因此相对造价和带宽在定性方面已相当稳定。因此，在可预见的未来，这样一种相对的设计规则将继续适用。

– 有线技术可提供更大的带宽，但需要高昂的建设成本。

– 相比高频无线技术，低频无线技术可提供较便宜但容量较低的网络。

移动宽带是应对农村和边远地区宽带需求的一种快速方法。另一方面，有线（或固定）技术将对高密度城市地区的需求做出更好的回应。

基于上述准则，下表概括了有线和无线技术的优化组合，用于城市和边远地区。请注意，提到了标准的特定名称，作为例子，显示有线和无线系统的当前混合状态。无需许可的WiFi补充和扩展了城市和农村地区以及极端的农村地区的接入连接。

表2：有线和无线技术的选择

接入技术

城区-郊区

农村-边远地区

极边远地区

有线

FTTx、xDSL、GPON等

xDSL

-

无线

HSPA、LTE、EVDO、
WIMAX

工作于较低频率上的蜂窝电话技术，如HSPA、LTE、EVDO

卫星

4.6 ITU-T和ITU-R在农村和边远地区开展的电信/ICT工作

国际电联电信标准化部门（ITU-T）和国际电联无线电通信部门（ITU-R）是专门致力于制定国际通信标准的组织。为了农村和边远地区的电信/ICT，ITU-T和ITU-R制定了一系列标准。表3[33]列出了国际电联有关FTTx配置的各建议书。

在ITU-T 2013-2016研究期，ITU-T第14/5号课题已就发展中国家的农村通信起草了L.1700建议书[34]和增补。该建议书旨在确定低成本可持续电信基础设施的一般性要求和框架，并特别关注发展中国家的农村通信问题。相关增补的主题包括：蜂窝无线电技术、毫米波电台、光纤技术、有线系统、卫星系统、蜂窝无线电系统以及蜂窝无线电系统的中继器。[35]

ITU-T第14/5号课题完成了下列项目的工作[36]：

– ITU-T L.1700建议书 – 发展中国家农村通信的低成本可持续电信基础设施的要求和框架；[37]

– ITU-T L.1700的L.Suppl.22 – 对使用光缆的发展中国家农村通信的低成本可持续电信基础设施的补充；[38]

– ITU-T L.1700的L.Suppl.23 – 对使用微波和毫米波无线电链路的发展中国家农村通信的低成本可持续电信基础设施的补充；[39]

– ITU-T L.1700建议书的L.1729 – 对使用蜂窝无线电技术的发展中国家农村通信的低成本可持续电信基础设施的补充；[40]

– ITU-T L.1700的L.Suppl.30 – 对在使用容量转移蜂窝网络的发展中国家为农村通信建设低成本可持续电信网络的补充；[41]

– ITU-T L.1700的L.Suppl.31 – 对在使用卫星系统的发展中国家为农村通信建设低成本可持续电信网络的补充。[42]

表3：ITU-T FTTx有线宽带标准摘要

ITU-T FTTx有线宽带标准

ITU-T G.982

光接入网络，支持最高为ISDN主速率或等同比特率的业务

ITU-T G.983.x

基于无源光网络（PON）的宽带光接入系统

ITU-T G.984.x

具有千兆比特能力的无源光网络（GPON）

ITU-T G.985

基于100 Mbit/s点到点以太网的光接入系统

ITU-T G.986

基于1 Gbit/s点到点以太网的光接入系统

ITU-T G.987.x

具有10-Gigabit（千兆比）能力的无源光网络（XG-PON）系统

ITU-T G.988

ONU管理和控制接口规范（OMCI）

因用户使用样式、频谱管理和技术网络样式等要求，国际电联制定了一个大的建议书，即ITU-R M.1801建议书，它包含“关于宽带无线接入系统的无线电接口标准，包括工作于6 GHz以下频段的移动业务中的移动和漫游应用”。这些标准支持城区、郊区和农村地区有关通用宽带互联网数据和实时数据的众多应用，包括语音和视频会议等应用。ITU-R M.1801建议书包含下列标准：

– ARIB HiSWANa；

– ETSI BRAN HiperLAN 2；

– IEEE 802.11-2012第17分节（前802.11a）；

– IEEE 802.11-2012第18分节（前802.11b）；

– IEEE 802.11-2012第19分节（前802.11g）；

– IEEE 802.11-2012，由IEEE 802.11n修正（第20分节）；

– IMT-2000 CDMA直接扩频；

– IMT-2000 CDMA多载波；

– IMT-2000 CDMA TDD；

– IMT-2000 FDMA/TDMA；

– IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN；

– IMT-2000 TDMA单载波；

– 先进LTE；

– IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN/ETSI HiperMAN；

– ATIS-0700004.2005，大容量空分多址（HC-SDMA）；

– 扩展的全球平台：XGP；

– IEEE 802.20；

– YD/T 1956-2009 SCDMA宽带无线接入系统标准的空中接口。

ITU-R M.1457建议书包含“宽带无线局域网特性”（包括技术参数）以及有关RLAN标准和操作复杂性的信息。

ITU-R M.1457建议书概括和详细阐述了每一个IMT-2000（国际移动通信）无线电接口的规范：

– IMT-2000 CDMA直接扩频；

– IMT-2000 CDMA多载波；

– IMT-2000 CDMA TDD；

– IMT-2000 TDMA单载波；

– IMT-2000 FDMA/TDMA；

– IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN。

ITU-R M.2012建议书详细阐述了先进IMT（国际移动通信）地面无线电接口的规范，它包括两个先进IMT无线电接口：

– 先进LTE无线电接口技术规范；

– 先进WirelessMAN无线电接口技术规范。

5 第5章 – 适合农村和边远地区用户需求的服务和应用

构建ICT网络及连接农村和边远地区还不够。我们还需确保农村地区人群可有效使用ICT技术、服务并获得最大的好处。

可以为农村人口提供不同的ICT应用和服务，以增加其经济收入、生活质量，并减少不平等，例如，基于语音的电话和短信服务、互联网服务、电子医疗、电子农业、电子金融、电子商务、电子银行、电子学习、电子政务、电子包容性、远程工作、物联网/M2M服务。

生活在农村地区的人口需要有关农业、医疗、教育、金融、商务、旅游、公共服务、气候、备灾、适当接口、多语言适应性、自然语言交互等方面的相关内容。他们亦需要本地语言内容。

5.1 电话（固定电话和移动电话）

国际电信联盟估计，在2015年，超过95%的世界人口居住在2G移动蜂窝网络的覆盖范围内（69%居住在3G网络的覆盖范围内）。总的来说，世界绝大多数人口已经能够享受到电话服务、尤其是移动电话服务。到2015年底，蜂窝电话用户的数量已达72亿。

除了基于语音的信息服务为，不同的国家正将2G蜂窝网络用于农村地区基于SMS的信息服务，如农业、医疗、教育、天气、金融/商业和银行业。

5.2 互联网/宽带接入（适合农村和边远地区用户需求的服务和应用）

各个国家都需要制定规划/策略来增加农村人口对宽带服务的使用。数字素养和技能、经济可承受性、相关内容、以本地语言出现的内容和供电等，是农村地区面临的共同挑战。ICT在教育领域的应用以及将学校当作社区接入中心将有助于数字扫盲和技能培养问题的解决。数字扫盲和技能发展计划的部署对农村地区增加对宽带服务的使用而言也是非常必要的。

生活在农村地区的人们也需要互联网设备（计算机）来接入互联网。许多国家正在部署生活在农村地区的家庭、中小企业（SME）或个人负担得起的计算机和网络程序。

电信中心应用为农村人口提供了接入互联网并从中获益的机会。通过为生活在世界各地农村和边远地区的人们提供关键服务、技能和机遇，这些电信中心使个人和社会得以发展。通过引领面向创新、相关性和可持续性的全球电信中心运动，Telecentre.org基金会的使命是不断提高ICT在世界各地的社会和经济影响；它是在电信中心和ICT4D利益攸关方之间实现知识共享和相互协作的一个“集结点”，通过相关的培训、内容、联系和服务，将为个人和社区带来机遇。基金会促进基层电信中心的建立和可持续发展，它们是接入互联网和其他数字技术的公共场所。[43]

在遇到灾难的情况下，没有足够电信基础设施的农村地区将遭遇同样境况。在发生灾难的情况下，互联网、移动互联网和电话服务都可能无法使用。在这种情况下，ICT资源单元可迅速在当地提供基本的ICT服务。必须有利于创建一个新的、可随时随地提供ICT服务的环境，无论现有的网络基础设施处于一种什么样的状况。从2014年到2016年，在菲律宾的宿务岛，在日本和菲律宾的合作下，对利用ICT资源单元恢复连接性问题，国际电联已成功开展了可行性研究，它称为“可移动的和可部署的资源单元”（MDRU）。[44]

在普通而非紧急时期，ICT资源单元可用于本地连接服务。例如，在重大事件现场，如体育赛事和音乐事件，ICT资源单元可以作为临时接入点。有鉴于此，ICT资源单元也将有利于没有任何电信基础设施的农村地区。如果与互联网接入有关的网络设施不可用，那么ICT资源单元将通过提供临时的通信信道（如经由卫星）来提供替代的互联网接入手段。如果临时信道是有限的或不可能的，那么ICT资源单元也有望作为一个独立的本地数据中心，通过自身为本地用户提供互联网类型的服务。这意味着ICT资源单元有可能克服“数字鸿沟”问题。[45]

物联网/M2M应用和服务是农村地区居民的另一个机会，例如，智慧农业、智能水管理和生物传感器监测水质、智能电力、智能学习、智慧医疗和其他应用。

5.3 电子应用和电子服务

有不同形式的电子商务，农村地区人口与城市地区人口一样，需要从这些形式的电子商务中获得益处，但当中的一些电子商务形式对农村地区而言要重要得多。下面将对之做一详细介绍。

5.3.1 电子金融/电子商务

手机还可以用来扩大金融包容性。研究表明，更广泛地参与金融体系可减少收入不平等等，促进就业以及直接帮助人们更好地管理风险和吸收金融冲击。通过提供其所需的保密性和便利性，移动金融服务还可以为农村妇女等被边缘化的群体提供巨大帮助。

手机银行在一些发展中国家是一种流行的方法。例如，将肯尼亚人带入正式的银行经济的M-Pesa有多个附带的好处。有关肯尼亚农村家庭的一项研究发现，使用M-Pesa的家庭其收入明显地要高一些。[46]

在巴拉圭，电子支付业务在非常重要，对于农村地区无银行服务的人群尤其如此。最初，这些业务在无监管框架情况下得到开发。随着业务的发展，且为确保其法律稳定性和增长，中央银行和电信监管机构（CONATEL）发布了规则，为用户、电子支付业务提供商和电信服务提供商提供了保障。电子支付手段为农村地区提供了简单但适当的方法，促进那里无金融服务的人群获得更高水平的正式金融服务并对其加以使用。[47]

对农村地区的电子金融和电子商务服务而言，互联网是一个非常强大的工具，许多国家正在有效地使用它们。爱沙尼亚关于农村地区ICT服务的农村发展计划和项目是一个很好的例子。[48]

5.3.2 电子医疗

电子医疗为农村和边远社区提供基本的和增强的医疗服务。[49]由于众多训练有素的医疗专业人员都集中在了城市和大都市地区，因此医务工作者短缺主要影响的是农村和边远地区。使个人能够通过电子手段远程获得医疗服务将可部分地解决医务人员短缺带来的挑战。有关电子咨询的远程医疗服务有助于为生活在受医务人员短缺影响的地区的人们提供高质量的医疗服务。向农村和边远的社区提供医疗服务需要高速数据连接，要求在技术上能够为社区和城市医疗设施提供远程医疗应用。提供远程医疗应用需要城市设施以及农村和边远社区接入适当的计算基础设施、与高速数据连接相连、拥有适当的软件和外围设备（如摄像机），这将有助于提高农村和边远地区消费者得到初级医疗服务的能力，并减少需要长途跋涉才能获得医疗服务的难题。应为农村和边远地区提供基于SMS的电子医疗服务、远程医疗教育，提高其对电子医疗、远程医疗的认识。图3给出了有关在农村地区实施国家远程医疗服务的战略性建议：

图3：为农村地区提供国家远程医疗服务的战略性建议

5.3.3 电子农业

电子农业是WSIS《宣言》和《行动计划》中确定的行动方面之一。一个新兴的领域是专注于通过改善信息和通信处理，增强农业和农村发展。更具体地来说，电子农业涉及创新性方法的构想、设计、开发、评估和应用，以便更好地将ICT运用于农业领域。

电子农业对确保农民获得可靠的、现代的农业信息和天气信息而言是非常必要的。

许许多多的利益攸关方都承认需要制定电子农业战略，大多数国家也已采取战略性方法来推动ICT在农业领域的应用和发展。电子农业战略将有助于理顺资源（财力和人力），并以一种更加高效的方式来整体应对农业部门面临的ICT机遇和挑战，同时产生新的收入来源、改善农村社区的生计并确保国家农业总体规划目标的实现。电子农业战略的确立及其与其他政府规划的紧密结合，将有助于防止出现孤立地实施电子农业项目和服务的现象。

卢旺达政府提出要制定一项关于卢旺达农业的国家ICT战略（ICT4RAg），该战略认识到在将ICT纳入农业工作主要内容的过程中取得的成就及存在的挑战和机遇，并侧重于通过改进信息和通信过程来促进农业和农村的发展。更具体而言，ICT4RAg涉及在农村地区使用ICT的创新方法的概念化、设计、开发、评估和应用，并对农业给予了重点关注。在此基础上，新项目预计将打造本土化的解决方案，以改进农业工作。[50]

粮食和农业组织（FAO），拥有农业领域的丰富知识以及在将新兴技术用于食品安全、农业和农村发展方面的丰富经验，国际电信联盟（ITU），作为ICT方面联合国的专门领导机构，得到包括农业和农村合作技术中心（CTA）在内的合作伙伴的支持，一起开发了一本《电子农业战略指南》，并协助各国基于本指南制定本国的电子农业战略/总体规划。[51]

5.3.4 电子政务

应该有一个国家电子政务战略，包括针对农村人口的战略。电子政务必须解决城乡鸿沟问题，农村人口应能受益于电子政务服务的优势。因此，重要的是要为农村地区人口开发适当的项目/解决方案，以便接入电子政务服务。例如，葡萄牙政府就有一个计划，旨在为农村地区提供电子政务服务。[52] 印度“国家电子政务规划”是一个好的参照，包括针对农村地区的项目。[53]

Alias等（2011年）[54]发现，使用便利性、安全、成本和语言的约束成为电子政务在农村地区得到应用的重要障碍。组织机构方面的障碍显著影响本地电子政务倡议的实施，如本地电信中心。

5.4 建议

生活在农村地区的人们应该能够受益于ICT给教育、农业、食品质量与安全、医疗、电子政务、电子旅游、电子金融、电子商业和其他宽带服务带来的好处，这需要一个非常完美的规划。这将有助于提高他们的生活质量和经济。中小企业（SME）将能够提高其生产力并将其产品和服务延伸至各地。这些服务也将有助于减少地理距离和孤立问题。

– 为在农村和边远地区采纳ICT服务制定一个计划/战略/项目（具有可测量的目标，如每个社区或家庭接入互联网并积极使用ICT服务）。

– 提供金融资源，为提供和采用互联网设备和服务提供补贴（在年度政府预算予以优先考虑、普遍服务基金等）。

– 教育本地主管部门，发挥其领导作用。

– 依据农村地区真正的本地需求，开发服务和内容。例如，对一个以农业为主的农村地区而言，为农民开发关于农业的内容以及开发一个用于网上售卖其产品的应用程序，将更有用。

– 开发应用服务，让女人/女孩、中小企业（SME）以及“残疾人和具有特殊需求的人群”变得更强大。

– 构建社区接入中心（电信中心、免费Wi-Fi上网区等）。

– 在教育中融入ICT，将学校有效地利用起来，作为社区接入中心。

– 支持物联网（M2M）应用和服务的部署（M2M）。

– 发展公私伙伴关系和协作。

– 教育当地居民并启动数字扫盲和技能发展计划。

– 启动提高认识计划。

6 第6章 – 农村地区教育领域的ICT

对加强农村地区的教育而言，ICT是一个很好的工具，将在国家层面提供平等的教育机会。宽带技术具备应对众多独特挑战和克服农村经济传统局限性的潜力，尤其是那些与距离和接入有关的挑战和限制。农村和边远地区的公民拥有与城市地区公民类似的需求，但在许多方面处于不利地位。ICT在教育领域可以发挥重要的作用，为农村地区教育、医疗、农业、商业和其他领域的人力资源建设贡献力量。许多国家确立了农村发展项目，包括教育领域的ICT应用和发展，针对的是学生、农民、年轻人、妇女－女孩、中小企业（SME）等。远程教育和ICT改善和提高了农村地区的ICT接入性、平等性和生活质量。不同的国家正将远程教育和ICT作为实现发展目标的战略。

通过建立21世纪的技能，教育领域的ICT也将有助于个人在全球经济中拥有竞争力。通过尽可能降低与传统教学活动有关的成本，使ICT能够延伸至农村和边远地区的贫困学生或未连接至ICT的学生，教育领域的ICT也将发挥重要作用。在许多发展中国家，农村地区缺乏教师是一个严重的问题。远程教育也将为教师问题提供了一个良好的机会。远程学习也可有效地用于教师的远程培训。

信息和通信技术影响发展中国家的社会经济发展。在教育和培训领域使用ICT将为农村地区的妇女、女孩和残疾人提供更多的机会。受过教育和经过数字扫盲的妇女将可得益于微观金融产品和服务，增加农村地区的女企业家。农村女孩不太可能达到像男孩那样的基础教育水平，但教育领域的ICT也为女孩提供了机会。ICT还可为农村地区的小SME、农民提供融资、依托ICT技术进入市场等方面的培训和教育。在培训和教育人们将现代技术用于农业生产和医疗保健方面，ICT也将发挥重要作用。

ICT数字技能和电子教育对农村和边远地区的影响[55]

部署国家发展规划并使之获得成功在于推动整个国家的同步发展，包括在农村和边远地区的部署和成功，这通常是有待发展的最后一部分。这可能受制于农村和边远地区用户的数字技能。用户的数字技能源自数字素养，可通过称为电子教育的现代教育系统来提高。因此，这两个主题是互为映照的。

数字技能是推动ICT领域取得任何发展的一个重要支柱。在国家发展战略和执行项目中，它应被视为优先考虑的内容。对农村地区而言，这显得更为重要，原因是文化水平低下是阻碍农村社区互联网使用和电子商务发展的重要因素。另一方面，ICT是推动教育发展的一个有效因素，它有助于提高数字素养。因此，提高农村和边远地区的数字技能并将ICT用于教育（电子教育）是两个不同的问题，应在发展中的农村地区予以重点考虑。

数字技能可分类为技术能力和认知能力。可在不同层次对这些技能进行开发与/或训练，包括通过科学的实践和理论培训，提高使用、支持和对目标施加影响的技能等。

6.1 宽带技术

存在各种各样的宽带技术，在整个国家可能是可用的，也可能是不可用的。[56]不同的技术可能有不同的成本。例如，相比地面移动宽带，卫星宽带技术有不同的成本。在农村地区，网络通常是可用的，但若将网络连接到学校可能会产生额外的费用。技术可用性及其速度和可达性必须与成本进行平衡，所有这些取决于项目的可持续性。需要确定适当的速度以及选择高速技术。不过，不能忽略高速连接的替代方案，原因是在整合教育领域的ICT方面，尤其当宽带连接依然是一种挑战的时候，它们仍然可能是有用的。一般情况下，在农村地区，固定宽带接入网络无法用于教育领域的ICT、至学校的宽带连接等。不同的无线宽带技术提供了解决方案。卫星技术通常用于提供至农村学校的互联网接入。

6.2 挑战

电力缺乏是一个严重的问题，尤其对农村地区而言，需要考虑为教育领域提供ICT服务。太阳能、风能或其他替代方案可以作为一种解决方案。

生活在农村地区的人们也应得到关于物联网/M2M应用和服务的培训。物联网（智能水管理、智能电力、智慧农业、智慧医疗等）在许多国家是一个重中之重的问题，生活在农村地区的人们也需从这一机遇中获得益处。

数字扫盲计划对生活在农村地区的人们来说也是必要的。发展中国家应该发展数字素养教育计划，以加大宽带在农村地区的应用并产生积极影响。

对农村地区基于ICT的培训计划，社区ICT中心（电信中心）也可以发挥重要作用。

对于提高农村和边远地区的数字技能而言，最重要的挑战如下所示：

– 在农村和边远地区缺乏熟练的信息技术专家；

– 不熟悉第二语言与/或缺乏ICT技能训练所需的国内内容；

– 缺乏ICT在生活方式和文化中的整合；

– 培训计划的深度有限、培训的标准化不够；

– 缺乏用于连接农村和边远地区的现代化接入技术。

6.3 经济可承受性和资金筹措

农村人口也需要负担得起的宽带和互联网设备，以便接入基于ICT的教育。许多国家的政府正通过不同的机制（负担得起的银行长期贷款、免税政策、补贴等）来帮助人们在经济上承受得起宽带和设备。

学校常常负担不起互联网接入费用，特别对农村和边远地区而言。鉴于在教育领域融入ICT的重要性，各国政府已越来越多地承担起提供解决方案的责任，以降低这些费用或者为现有的成本提供补贴。不同的融资机制可用于农村地区基于ICT的教育：政府基金、普遍服务基金、免税、补贴和其他机制。许多国家正在为教育领域的ICT项目（包括农村地区）使用普遍服务基金。

6.4 关于第5/1号课题的全球调查

本节对ITU-D第1研究组第5/1号课题全球调查问卷表的回复进行了分析。为成功完成2014-2017年期间的课题工作，国际电联成员提供进一步的输入是必要的。调查还包括：教育领域的ICT及以下问题：是否制定了针对农村和边远地区教育领域ICT发展与应用的国家政策？对收到的调查输入的详细分析可参见本报告附件2.1和附件2.2。

重要的是要注意到以下来自巴西的信息：连接农村地区的所有公立学校；“通过通告，招标450 MHz无线电频率子频段；根据通告附件II-B条款5，Anatel要求中标的供应商在2014-2015年期间，利用互联网服务，将距城市方圆30千米内的农村地区的所有公立学校免费地连接起来”。

6.5 建议

– 提供部门之间的协调，尤其是ICT和教育部委；

– 优先对国家规划和国家展望中的农村地区和教育领域使用ICT；

– 用宽带连接农村地区的所有学校，并为教学提供ICT服务，使之得到有效应用；

– 得益于较低IMT频率的优势，为农村地区的宽带覆盖带来经济手段。例如，WRC-15确定694-894 MHz频段供全球使用。考虑在较低频率上的覆盖义务（许可证获得者必须首先为农村地区推出移动宽带 – 例如，德国将4G竞卖部署在800 MHz上）；

– 为ICT在农村地区教育领域的应用开发融资机制，如普遍服务基金；

– 发展经济可承受的“计算机+宽带”项目（免税、补贴、普遍服务基金支持、长期银行贷款等）；

– 为生活在农村地区的人群开发数字扫盲项目；

– 为生活在农村地区的妇女和女孩开发ICT项目；

– 利用学校、电信中心，为人们提供有关电子医疗、电子农业、电子商务等方面的培训（世界上75%的贫困人口生活在农村地区，主要从事农业劳作 – FAO）；

– 为生活在农村地区的人群开发培训内容；

– 为学校、电信中心和家庭中基于ICT的教育提供电力。

– 本报告附件4给出了孟加拉国、不丹、布隆迪、中华人民共和国、哥伦比亚、几内亚、海地、肯尼亚、马达加斯加、卢旺达、斯里兰卡和津巴布韦等国的ICT教育范例。

7 第7章 – 农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展、维护和运营的公共政策、监管措施、资金筹措

7.1 发展中国家农村和边远地区的发展状况

尽管2013年农村人口的移动蜂窝覆盖率几乎已达世界农村居民的90%，但绝大多数指的是2G/2.5G移动服务的覆盖，包括SMS。对农村人口而言，3G移动服务的覆盖还比较低，3G将使各种智能手机或平板电脑终端的使用成为可能。[57]

在提交给第Q5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，介绍了若干国家农村和边远地区的发展状况。此外，在全球调查中，也问到了若干与覆盖率有关的问题，答案如附件2所示。

互动传输地图是一个ICT数据映射平台，用于评估国家骨干网连接情况（光纤、微波和卫星地球站）以及ICT行业的其他关键指标。[58]这些地图显示电信基础设施的不均匀分布。[59]

普遍接入的挑战源于在低人口密度地区或更边远地区部署网络带来的边际成本大幅增加，这将危及以商业化方式提供服务的可行性。[60]考虑上述情况，通过政府干预来在农村和边远地区部署实施电信/ICT是必要的。

在全球调查中，关于农村和边远地区的电信/ICT国家战略，有一个问题，如下所示：

3.1 为达成有关农村和边远地区的目标，采取了哪些策略？

对该问题，有39份回复（86.67%）。

7.2 宽带政策和宽带计划

近年来，许多国家已经制定了国家宽带计划，这些计划规划了覆盖范围、服务目标价值和计划实施策略。当中一些计划的目的是实现普遍的宽带服务。[61]

有关宽带委员会的研究（2013年）表明，平均而言，宽带计划的引入或采用会提高2.5%的固定宽带普及率，提高7.4%的移动宽带普及率。[62]

在全球调查中，关于农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展的宽带政策，有一个问题，如下所示：

2.1 是否有面向农村和边远地区发展的国家电信/ICT/宽带计划？

图4：为实现有关农村和边远地区的目标而采取的策略

下面章节探讨为实现农村和边远地区目标而采取的战略。

对该问题，有42份回复（93.33%）。

对该问题，百分之67的回复为“是”，百分之33的回复为“否”。

在提交第Q5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，介绍了宽带政策和若干国家的宽带计划，如下所述：

在中华人民共和国，2013年，中国国务院颁布了“‘宽带中国’战略和实施计划”。在该计划中，宽带网络定位为战略性公共基础设施，是解决不同地区之间以及城乡之间发展不均衡问题的一个重要驱动力。要求各级政府在其当地社会和经济发展计划中纳入宽带网络。

为完成阶段性目标，计划中包括了“宽带村”项目和“农村学校宽带应用”示范项目。此外，如果是面向农村地区的，那么申请“宽带网络优化”项目和“宽带应用示范”项目将给予优先考虑。[63]

为实施“十二五国家战略性新兴产业发展规划”和“关于印发‘宽带中国’战略和实施计划的通知”，加速宽带基础设施在农村地区的发展，2014年，中国国家发展和改革委员会、财政部、工业和信息化部共同启动了“宽带村”试点项目（第一阶段）。四川省和云南省被该项目覆盖的第一批省份，中国电信四川分公司负责四川省试点项目的实施。[64]

在几内亚，为了消除农村和边远地区的孤立状况，政府实施了众多框架性项目并开展了一系列活动，推动基础设施的发展和电信/ICT服务的多样化，使其为全民所用。包括：

– 在2010年通过其国家信息通信技术发展政策与战略文件（DPSNTIC）。

– 敲定并通过WARCIP几内亚/世界银行项目。[65]

在越南，越南信息和通信部正在制定关于2020年公用事业电信服务提供的计划。基于上述第一个计划的实践和经验，该计划将重点在全国范围内发展电信基础设施，对边远、边界和岛屿地区，将给予优先考虑，以实现电信服务的普遍化，确保所有人平等、合理享用电信服务的权利，尤其对越南的贫困家庭。该项目预计如下：

– 受益者：全国的居民和贫困家庭；

– 预算：来自电信运营商的捐赠和其他来源；

– 构成项目：宽带连接、应急连接、社区连接、办公室连接、广播连接和安全连接。[66]

越南自2005年以来一直在推行电信普及和互联网服务政策，这些政策至2010年已取得显著成效。自2015年以来，越南政府继续实施旨在于2020年之前提供公共事业电信服务的计划。该计划旨在为存在特殊困难的农村和偏远地区的宽带基础设施开发提供新的政策支持，以为此类社区带来更大利益；并为贫困家庭提供普遍电信服务和强制性服务；为存在特殊困难的偏远地区家庭提供公共服务，并特别在电视数字化方面提供政策支持。虽然越南对农村和偏远地区的电信/ICT发展制定了相当完备的政策，但像越南这样的发展中国家以及最不发达国家仍会面临诸多困难，在财政资源和合格人力资源方面尤甚，因此建议国际电联和发达国家向其提供持续支持。[67]

在布隆迪，政府已制定一项国家ICT发展政策，并在两年前召开了有关该政策的公共信息会议。[68]

卢旺达已走过诸多里程碑式的阶段，大大改变了卢旺达公司和社会使用技术的方式。在国家信息和通信基础设施（NICI）框架下，卢旺达政府部署了国家高速光纤骨干网，它横跨全部30个区，连接11个边境口岸。这项计划旨在促进对各种各样宽带服务的接入，包括如电子政务、电子银行、电子学习和电子医疗等应用，使之成为实现既定目标的关键引擎，确保到2017年卢旺达达到中等收入水平。[69]

在日本，数字鸿沟消除战略（2008年）旨在消除不能仅由私营部门投资覆盖的“宽带盲区”，以使90%的家庭在2010财年之前用上超高速宽带，此战略已取得成功。日本政府目前正在根据“创建世界最先进IT国家宣言”（2013年）推动各项举措，以在孤岛和其他无利可图的地区确保本地ICT基础设施（超高速宽带和移动通信）的开发，同时虑及各地区的具体属性，以确保为所有公民提供有助于促进ICT利用的环境。设定有关覆盖范围和宽带速度国家目标的一个优点是，通过政府（和监管机构）关于建设先进和现代化基础设施的承诺，目标可以发出清晰的信号。国家目标还可包括某种普遍服务义务（USO），将社会和公共政策目标体现在商业和竞争市场中。[70]

国际通信卫星组织（ITSO）、Intelsat和欧洲通信卫星组织（EUTELSAT IGO）在其文稿中建议，考虑到卫星可在消除数字鸿沟中发挥的作用，至关重要的是，在制定国家宽带计划或提出其他倡议时，如电子医疗、电子政务或电子教育，政府应将卫星技术纳入，作为解决方案的一部分。[71]

制定覆盖范围和宽带速度的国家目标的一个优点是：此类目标可提供各国政府（和监管机构）有关建立先进和现代基础设施的承诺的明确信号。国家目标还可包括一种普遍服务义务（USO），以在商业和竞争性市场中体现社会和公共政策目标。[72]

尽管制定有国家宽带计划的国家数量已有很大增长，但这些计划中的大量计划正接近其尾期，这些计划中的许多计划尚不清楚如何推进已制定的战略（即国家是否会继续保持近来运行的计划，对之进行修订，并寻求关于其取得成就的反馈意见与/或引入新的计划）。[73]因此，重要的是政府要定期和充分地对国家宽带计划进行维护与/或修订。

7.3 普遍服务基金（USF）

普遍服务基金（USF）和类似的补贴计划有助于改善宽带对无服务地区的可用性和经济可承受性。过去主要关心的是边远地区的基本电话服务，现在，通过为内容、设备、服务、数字培训和基础设施等提供补贴的方式，USF开始关注如何推动宽带的部署和应用。在许多情况下，USF可以启动市场，并鼓励运营商扩大服务范围，提供至无服务地区的连接。[74]

USF通常通过电信服务提供商/运营商某种形式的资助机制来筹措资金。在大多数情况下，运营商的资助将采取税款的形式，它基于年度营业收入的某个百分比。在一些国家，USF费用不是一个单独的费用，而是年度监管总费用的一部分。除了运营商税款，常常还有其他的资金来源，包括但不限于许可费用、全部或部分的频谱拍卖收益、来自政府预算的直接资助、来自国际机构（如世界银行、区域发展银行等）的资助。[75]

在全球调查中，关于普遍服务基金，有若干问题，如下所示：

3.1 c) 请说明USF的来源？

对该问题，有29份回复（64.44%）。

表4：USF来源

来源

比例

收自电信服务费

44%

许可费

9%

特许权使用费

9%

频谱费

3%

关于电信设备的增值税（VAT）、进口税

0%

其他

35%

关于USF管理的回复，请参见附件2。

在提交第Q5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，对若干国家的普遍服务基金状况做了介绍，如下所示：

在中华人民共和国，工业和信息化部（MIIT）是主要的驱动力。工信部根据行政地域划分为基本电信运营商分配提供普遍电信服务的任务。运营商自己筹集资金，通过完成所分配的任务，来在规定的地区履行普遍服务义务。工信部通常会寻求当地政府的支持，要求当地政府和基层组织提供优惠政策和有利条件来降低项目的成本，确保项目的顺利实施。[76]

在几内亚，政府实施了众多框架性项目并开展了一系列活动，推动基础设施的发展和电信/ICT服务的多样化，使其为全民所用。这些包括设立普遍服务基金管理委员会。[77]

在津巴布韦，2001年，通过《邮政和电信法案》创立了普遍服务基金，作为一种提供给政府的方法和手段，来确保农村和弱势群体普遍接入电信/ICT服务，以及促进国家的发展。经商邮政和电信许可证持有者，依据USF制定的年度实施计划，有望达成基金的目标。这些目标现被扩大，将纳入宽带接入技术、宽带服务和ICT应用等，以确保ICT可用于推动津巴布韦所有社区的发展。基金的资金包括运营商提供的资金、国会提供的任何适于基金的资金，以及主管部门财年结束时适于普遍服务基金的、超过支出的任何收入盈余。[78]

在沙特阿拉伯，于2007年设立了普遍服务基金。基金制定和实施战略规划和运营计划，通过在沙特阿拉伯王国ICT服务提供商之间的项目招标，来向边远地区提供语音服务和互联网服务，并对提议做出评估，而后授予项目，并与中标者签订基金服务协议。ICT服务提供商实施的USF和项目为边远地区提供所需的服务，沙特阿拉伯政府为之提供所需的全部资金。战略规划设定目标，并通过确定计划和项目来指导USF的运作，以便为边远地区提供语音服务和宽带互联网接入。紧随其后的是准备基金的年度工作计划，除了确定各项目的范围，它还包括在战略规划中所列的基金主要目标及其计划和项目，并估算实施它们所需的费用。[79]

卢旺达政府通过普遍服务基金实施以下倡议来提高电信/ICT在农村和边远地区的普及率以及推动其在这些地区的应用：

– 为农村社区提供互联网带宽补贴，以便在卢旺达的农村和边远地区能够享用教育、医疗和公共服务；

– 为卢旺达农村和边远地区的30个社区ICT电信中心提供宽带连接补贴；

– 为所有使用卢旺达教育网络（RwEdNet）的大学（公立大学和私立大学）提供互联网带宽连接补贴；

– 通过VSAT互联网连接，连接农村和边远地区的所有中专和大专院校；

– 为农村和边远地区的所有卢旺达国家警察局提供互联网带宽补贴；

– 为在卢旺达农村和边远地区开展业务的私营机构提供互联网带宽补贴。[80]

在伊朗，通信监管委员会是最高的决策实体，由它来确定定量的和定性的目标、技术的和行政的准则，以便构建USO项目。伊朗通信监管局（CRA）已被其ICT部指定为治理职责、监管和执行的全权操作者。伊朗已排定十年的USO服务执行指令，以下科目已指定为USO服务中USO运营商的职责：

– 对超过20户人家的村庄，利用移动互联网的覆盖实现家庭电话的覆盖，并提供互联网接入和传真服务；

– 对至少有20户人家的村庄，提供公共通信服务；

– 对超过70户人家的农村地区，部署农村ICT办公室；

– 在乡村道路上延伸移动通信和互联网接入服务；

– 在城市公共场所提供付费电话服务；

– 在公共场所提供互联网服务。[81]

在肯尼亚，2009年肯尼亚信息通信修正案法案（KICA 2009）和2010年肯尼亚信息和通信规范（KICR US&A 2010）建立了普遍服务基金（USF），用于补充私营部门的倡议，以满足普遍接入目标。主要通过特许运营商的强制性捐款来筹措基金的资金（这些特许运营商为各种各样的细分通信市场提供服务），还有的就是来自其他渠道的补充资金。USF目前拥有2900万美元的可用资金，今年有望再增加800-900万美元（2016年）。[82]

普遍服务是在受管制行业中常用的一个经济、法律和商业术语，指的为国家中的每一个居民提供基线水平服务的实践。许多国家形成普遍服务基金源自以下需求，即消除城乡之间以及贫富之间的数字鸿沟，通过私营资本资助电信/ ICT项目的方式创建了USF。[83]

通过对69个USF的研究发现，38%的USF高度活跃（正在进行或已经完成的USF应用超过15项）、14%的USF处于中等活跃水平（项目在6-15项之间）、22%的USF处于低活跃水平（实施或有经费支出的项目不足5项）。1/4（或26%）的USF是不活跃的。在这69个USF中，27个包括宽带或社区电信中心。[84]

因此，这对政府改善普遍服务基金管理、确保计划有效性、实现为农村和边远地区提供接入服务的目标至关重要。

7.4 频率分配和许可条件

频谱政策、分配和管理是政府总体宽带政策的重要组成部分。无线宽带是将宽带延伸至服务欠缺的农村地区的主要平台，以便在发展中国家实现全面的覆盖。因此，国家频谱规划是频谱政策的一个重点关注领域。对规划的讨论主要倾向于如何处理频段再分配问题，通过电视广播的数字化，这些频段变得可用于此类目的。[85]

国家可以确保频谱政策和实践符合普遍接入服务（UAS）的目标要求，并以技术和服务中立的方式进行分配，同时努力实现规模经济，使消费者能其频谱配置方案中获益。宽带网络的频谱资源需要在全球和区域层面上进行协调。政策制定者应仔细评估其国家需求和条件，通过一系列不同的机制，制定既可鼓励创新与投资也能使频谱得到高效利用的政策框架。对农村和边远地区的移动宽带而言，40-1000 MHz之间的频段是比较适当的频谱，对城市地区深度的室内覆盖而言，这也是比较适当的频谱。[86]

在墨西哥，联邦电信协会（IFT）公布了利用国家无线电频谱（PABF）中频段的2015年年度计划的最初版本，根据该计划：

“...电信部门的具体频段首次根据其社会服务用途而加以确定。为此，可设想对所谓蜂窝频段以及824和849MHz之间与869和894MHz之间频段内的各段可用频谱发布特许权。出于频段利用之目的，建议对上述频段颁发许可，以提供农村连接服务，从而满足未能获得当前许可持有者服务的地区对基本电话服务的迫切需求”。[87]

日本对频率划分进行定期审查，以促进引入频率利用效率更高的新服务。在评估频率指配申请者的商业计划时，采用比较审查方法来决定是否对其颁发许可。实践证明，在短期内广泛引入高水平的新服务已取得斐然效果。日本对无线电台的直接受益者使用无线电波公共服务进行收费，并利用该项收入来监测无线电波、开发有效利用频率的技术及释放标准无线电波等。[88]

缅甸认为，CDMA450技术是最适合在偏远地区提供电信服务的技术。自2007年以来，缅甸邮电部已开始在偏远地区提供此项技术。利用此项技术可实现更大的覆盖区域。即使仅将其用于提供语音服务，亦可结合先进的LTE 450MHz技术来提供数据服务。在巴西等国已有相关的成功案例。电视空白频谱可作为在农村地区提供更佳电信服务的解决方案之一。在使用CDMA 450技术和电视空白频谱在偏远地区提供电信服务方面，缅甸一直在努力借鉴其他国家的做法。[89]

巴西提供的信息表明，它使用450 MHz的蜂窝电话技术。[90]

新的频谱许可证旨在提高宽带网络和服务在农村和边远地区的的可用性。其中一个衡量指标是许可费用。可以降低或甚至取消农村和边远地区的频谱许可费用，以便减少UAS提供商的费用壁垒。[91]科特迪瓦提出，在许多国家、尤其在许多非洲国家，需要考虑许可费用估算以及延展所需频率使用费用的问题。[92]

另一个选择方案是依据UAS义务来分配该频谱。该度量准则将包括有关低频段频谱许可证中的覆盖义务，以便将宽带覆盖范围延展至对运营商而言不具备经济可行性的地区，并对其实施监控。

7.5 多利益攸关方伙伴关系

世界银行呼吁，当商业案例富有吸引力时，私营部门可率先提供互联网基础设施和服务，但指出，“当私营部门无法提供经济上可承受的接入时，公共投资或干预有时是合理的”。导致互联网增长放缓的一个因素是对以下地区而言商业案例还不够富有吸引力，即剩余的57%尚未连接之人口生活的地区，为实现宽带的普遍接入，可能需要创新的商业模式。[93]

在中华人民共和国，在中国电信负责下，“宽带村”项目这部分覆盖了四川省的20个县（市、区）。项目开始于2014年，有望在2016年完成，总投资人民币6.95亿元，其中国家每年投入1亿元；其余投资将由负责项目的运营商和三级不同的政府当局（县、市、区）来承担。[94]

政府引导和私营资本的合作促成了一个双赢的局面。面对40 000个村庄，资本是最大的问题。四川电信公司抓住机会，使四川成为中国的试点省份，并获得了几亿元的资金，并得到了当地政府的支持。同时，依托国家私营资本开放政策，四川电信公司积极吸引社会资本参与投资。有一年，筹措了几亿元的公共资金，投资于成千上万的村庄。通过与四川长虹集团和锦州公司的合作，推动了当地产业链的发展。在四川的“农村宽带”项目中，预营销经验、获利估算、全县规划、技术和管理创新等，都是好的方法。

– 政府和企业二者都很重要，都不可或缺；

– 结合政府的支持和私营资本的合作，我们可共同推动农村地区的发展。[95]

在卢旺达，青年部和ICT部（MYICT）与卢旺达公用事业监管局（RURA）、电信运营商、互联网服务供应商（ISP）、制造商和进口商联合创建了一个称为“Viziyo”的项目，作为一种在低收入居民中提高经济上可承受的最终用户智能设备普及率的手段，其终极目标是大幅提升全国范围内的宽带普及率。[96]

在马达加斯加，电信/ICT发展基金（FDTIC）和公私伙伴关系（PPP）为ICT的发展提供了绝大部分的资金。在其监管措施中，通信技术（ARTEC）监管部门在进一步促进ICT部门自由化和鼓励基础设施共享的整体框架内开展行动。[97]

为了在农村和边远地区提供可用的和负担得起的普遍服务，政府、国家监管部门、运营商和其他各种各样利益攸关方之间良好的合作伙伴关系和协调至关重要。通过多利益攸关方伙伴关系，使用各种各样的基金作为投资，多利益攸关方伙伴关系可能是为经济落后地区降低成本和减少风险的一种有效方法。

7.6 对基础设施的支持

在提交给第5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，对政府支持基础设施的例子做了介绍，如下所述：

在几内亚，为了消除农村和边远地区的孤立状况，政府实施了众多框架性项目并开展了一系列活动，推动基础设施的发展和电信/ICT服务的多样化，使其为全民所用。作为本地社区ICT推广行动的一部分，本部与全球之声几内亚（GVG）在首都的五个区共同建立了一些居民网吧，包括配备有电脑和其他办公设备的上网间和培训间。[98]

四川大胆决定建立全光纤农村宽带，从根本上突破带宽瓶颈。为了避免盲目建设和减少投资压力，四川电信公司和四川设计院规划了指南，分区、分批开展建设。它们提出了一种称为“农村宽带县域规划全景图”的方法。对中国宽带战略而言，四川省的经验和成就有很大的参考价值。[99]

在布隆迪，负责ICT的部门已经启动了一个项目，旨在设立多功能社区电信中心，并启动了另一个项目，旨在在农村中学设立和加强ICT俱乐部。这使得学生能够熟悉ICT。[100]光纤通信网络（布隆迪骨干系统（BBS））已经在布隆迪的所有省份开始运作。布隆迪人现已开始受益于这种连接，尤其是通过手机的社交网络应用，当中最突出的应用是WhatsApp。[101] 为了充分发挥国内光纤骨干网的优势，布隆迪政府通过其信息通信技术部，出台了有助于农村人口继续熟悉ICT的项目，其中包括多用途社区电信中心和中学的ICT俱乐部。[102]

卢旺达政府建造了一个国家数据中心，具备了发挥云计算作用的能力。卢旺达还通过各种各样的国际海底电缆接入了超过3.5 Gbps的国际容量。通过普遍服务基金（UAF ） ，卢旺达政府为该国农村和边远地区30个社区ICT电信中心的宽带连接提供了补贴。在其他机构协作下，卢旺达公用事业监管局（RURA）还制定和实施了关于为农村社区提供带宽补贴的规定。通过该计划，共有193个来自卢旺达农村地区公共和私营机构的站点连接到了互联网，通过VSAT连接，共享110 Mbps。[103]

2003年，在信息社会世界峰会（WSIS）第一阶段期间，马里、莫桑比克和塞内加尔的国家元首，在联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）总干事的陪同下，启动了社区多媒体中心（CMC）升级项目。一个CMC是一个社区广播电台和一个社区网络空间（互联网接入），它们位于同一房屋内。到2016年底，将在塞内加尔安装和投入运营40个CMS。[104]

在哈萨克斯坦，投资和发展部正致力于开发一个项目，基于Kazakhtelekom为农村人口中心构建宽带接入基础设施。为了为农村人口提供更快的宽带互联网接入服务，2016年启动了项目“利用光纤通信链路覆盖哈萨克斯坦农村人口中心”的筹备工作。项目的目标是依托宽带互联网接入来提高农村人口中心的现代通信服务普及率。[105]

在阿富汗，通信和信息技术部启动了分散通信网络（DCN）项目，这是一个基于卫星的网络。该项目受先进和现代技术驱动，旨在提供传真、电话和互联网服务。该项目于2005年启动，USAID援助了共1400万美元。阿富汗电信公司负责提供VCN终端和DCN终端，以覆盖那些尚未被任何其他电信运营商覆盖的边远地区和村庄，或者覆盖因恶劣的地理环境和多山而使基于微波的骨干网/基础设施在商业上不可行的边远地区和村庄。在销售VCN终端以在农村和边远地区提供电信/ ICT服务的同时，电信发展基金（TDF）为之提供一定的补贴，从而将服务延伸至尚未被覆盖的地区。[106]

在巴西，自2014年以来，利用免税政策，一些国家政府创立了自己的公共政策，来增加中心城市之外的移动通信塔数量，以便为农村地区提供服务。[107]

冈比亚政府加入了非洲海岸到欧洲的光纤倡议（ACE）联盟，并对国家骨干传输网做了改进，实现了高容量的互联网连接。为了最大化ACE海底电缆和新的国家光纤骨干网的的收益，政府推出了一些政策，并对监管做了更改。[108]

日本政府维持公平和透明的竞争法律框架，以刺激在电信部门进行基础设施投资和推出新服务。原则上，私营部门在ICT基础设施开发方面发挥着主导作用。另一方面，为了促进区域振兴所不可或缺的超高速宽带基础设施的开发，日本政府一直在对农村和偏远岛屿等不利条件下的光纤线路安装成本进行补贴，前提是此类光纤线路由地方政府安装。[109]

为了降低发展中国家农村和边远地区的基础设施成本，共享电信基础设施和非电信基础设施可能是一种有效的方法。在提交第Q5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中对若干例子做了介绍，如下所示：

1999年，巴西电信监管机构（Anatel）、电力监管机构（Aneel）和石油监管机构（ANP）共同批准通过了关于在能源、电信和石油行业之间共享基础设施的规定的ANEEL/ANEEL/ANATEL/ANP nº 1/1999号决议。规定确立了在电力公司、电信和石油行业之间共享基础设施的指导方针，以确保这些行业中负责提供公用事业服务的各公司，在不受歧视基础上，以公平、合理的价格和条件，从其他两个行业获取共享之基础设施的权利。

电信提供商明确表示，基础设施共享协议实现了资源的优化，降低了运营成本。除了为经济可行性较差的边远地区带来了电力之外，该项目还将给这些地区带来诸多好处，原因是它也将为该国的边远地区带来提供宽带、固定和移动电话服务的可能性。最大的好处是服务的稳定性、网络的可靠性、增大的语音和数据通信容量、增高的光纤传输速度，从而可为日益增长的需求提供支持。[110]

在全球调查中，关于基础设施共享，有若干问题，如下所示：

3.1 对基础设施共享，尤其对农村和边远地区的基础设施共享，是否有特殊政策？

对该问题，有28份回复（62.22%）。

图5：有关基础设施共享、尤其农村和边远地区基础设施共享的政策

关于监管框架的回复，请参见附件2.1和2.2。

在布隆迪，正在建立移动电话公司，并将取代利用发电机为天线供电，与REGIDESO公司签署了一项关于由REGIDESO公司负责提供电力线路的协议，这些也会使当地居民获益。换句话说，该公司不仅将农村人口连接到了移动网络，也将农村人口连接到了主电力网络。这项工作将在2016年完成。[111]

在阿根廷，国家移动通信业务竞争和服务条件发展计划是以国家相关规则为基础的，后者规定，电信和ICT服务提供商可以，且有些情况下必须共用网络基础设施，建筑物（平台、屋顶、电信塔、相关部分和/或结构）、设施及相关资源，以,提高效率。[112]

决策制定者可能希望对公共资金资助的基础设施考虑基础设施共享和开放接入方法问题。尽管存在各种各样的开放接入策略，但至关重要的是，政策制定者应确保新设施的接入应基于公平、合理和平等原则。这可能包括价格因素（如接入基础设施的批发价）和非价格因素（如产品规格和服务水平协议）。[113]

对政府而言，重要的是要为基础设施提供支持，包括在发展中国家农村和边远地区的基础设施共享，在这些地区，还没有引人注目的商业案例，私营部门也无法独自来提供服务。

7.7 对应用和内容的支持

对前三个研究周期的工作进行分析可以发现，按已实现的应用可以将项目分为以下六类：电话、电子商务、电子行政管理、教育、电子医疗和ICT培训。当中，对农村和边远地区而言，三大杀手级应用是教育、电子医疗保健和电子行政管理服务。此外，电子银行或转账服务也是深受欢迎的服务，以便在国外工作的工人将挣的钱汇往自己的家。对某些国家的农村社区而言，电子农业是一项重要的应用，适用于提高每平方米或每平方英里的生产力，以便尽可能达到粮食的自给自足。对没有任何报纸、电视或其他广播服务可用的农村地区的村民而言，电子公告板是一种有用的工具。[114]

在全球调查中，关于农村和边远地区的应用，有一个问题，如下所示：

6.2 是否有面向农村和边远地区其他电子应用的国家政策？

对该问题，有22份回复（48.89%）。

对该问题，42%的回复为“是”，58%的回复为“否”。

在提交给第Q5/1号课题报告人小组会议的文稿中，介绍了政府支持应用和内容的例子，如下所示：

在中国，四川电信、广播、互联网公司和智能行业成立了发展联盟。基于光纤网络和IPTV，集成了各种各样的信息技术应用，并创建了一种多方合作和福利模式。4K电视已覆盖边远地区，丰富了农牧民的文化生活。四川的IPTV提供了一个很好的、关于城乡一体化“互联网+”的例子。IPTV是“互联网+”的智能入口，它既能给人们带来益处，也能促进信息产业链的可持续创新和发展。[115]

雪亮项目（Shiny）为农村家庭的数字电视终端和智能电话提供有关公共安全的视频信息。四川省政府已发布有关该项目的指南并对项目给予支持。[116]

在布隆迪，某些应用（如通过移动电话进行的现金转账）已经极大地改变了农村人口的生活。农村地区的连接使在最边远地区设立银行分支机构成为可能，这样，住在边远地区的人们就可以方便地开户了，而不用再囤钱了。当他们销售和流通产品时，至少对合作社的成员来说，可以通过银行转账来付款了。[117]

卢旺达政府通过普遍接入基金来实施计划，为应用和内容提供支持，为至农村社区的互联网带宽连接提供补贴，以便农村和边远地区能够享用到教育、医疗和公共服务。[118]

在伊朗，为向农村地区提供ICT服务，2006年启动了一个农村ICT项目。伊朗伊斯兰共和国政府为它提供了所需的资金，通过农村ICT办公室，为ICT和电信服务在贫困地区的推广应用提供支持。农村ICT服务可以概括如下：

– 邮政服务，处理所有邮政事务（邮政服务、跟踪邮政信件等）；

– 邮政银行，提供电子银行服务；

– 电话服务，包括固定类型的和移动类型的电话服务；

– 互联网服务，支持电子市场服务、公共服务、银行服务和特殊服务（电子邮件、FTP管理）等。[119]

各种各样的政策措施推动着本地应用和内容的发展。刺激本地内容可以增加本地就业和创业，并带来重要的附加好处。语言障碍是切实的，它阻碍世界各地的人们连接和参与知识经济，尤其对新兴市场而言。[120]

因此，重要的是政府要推动应用和内容与基础设施的融合发展。

7.8 能力建设

供给侧措施是必要的，但并不是充分的。刺激需求必须结合校内外关于ICT使用的教育活动和技能培训工作来开展，从而增加获得所有可用机会的可能性。数字技能培训必须在教育制度、规划和政策以及教师培训和发展中予以优先考虑。需求侧措施的例子包括：

– 参与提高ICT素养运动和数字技能课程，以提升用户能力、认识和兴趣。

– 通过各层面正式的和非正式的培训和教育，有效提高ICT技能，尤其关注提高女性的ICT技能。[121]

在全球调查中，关于ICT在农村和边远地区教育中的应用与发展，有一个问题，如下所示：

6.1 是否有面向农村和边远地区教育的ICT国家政策？

对该问题，有33份回复（73.33%）。

对该问题，42%的回复为“是”，58%的回复为“否”。

学校常常负担不起互联网接入费用，特别对农村和边远地区而言。鉴于在教育领域融入ICT的重要性，各国政府已越来越多地承担起提供解决方案的责任，以降低这些费用或者为现有的成本提供补贴。不同的融资机制可用于农村地区基于ICT的教育：政府基金、普遍服务基金、免税、补贴和其他机制。[122]

卢旺达政府通过普遍接入基金来实施计划，为教育提供支持，为所有使用卢旺达教育网络（RwEdNet）的大学（公立大学和私立大学）提供互联网带宽补贴，为通过VSAT互联网连接手段实现连接的边远和农村地区中专和大专院校提供互联网宽带补贴，为卢旺达农村和边远地区的ICT扫盲运动提供支持。通过在农村和服务欠缺地区建立电子学习和电子服务中心，作为一种为农村社区提供负担得起的ICT服务的手段，本项目在卢旺达的居民中起着至关重要的作用。项目利益攸关方为教育部和地方治理部。[123]

除了提供基本的电信基础设施和服务，还建议考虑可持续发展的必要性。通过有针对性的和综合的能力建设（旨在保证农村和边远地区的自给自足）来保持可持续发展，并促进之前很少或未使用过任何形式电信服务的人来使用电信技术。

7.9 政策、监管和资金的重要性

在全球调查中，关于农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展的政策和监管，有若干问题，如下所示：

– 7.4 a) 为农村和边远地区的电信/ICT发展，贵国政府与/或监管部门是否制定了其他特定政策或采取了其他特定监管措施？

– b) 在推动农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展方面，上面提到的、贵国政府制定的其他特定政策或采取的其他特定监管措施的效果如何？

7.6 为更好地在农村和边远地区部署电信/ICT，在指导方针方面有何建议？

对该问题，有许多有趣的回复，请参见附件2.1和2.2。

国际电联发现，服务增长最快的地方是监管措施（如行业咨询、基础设施共享）已就位的地方，在这些地方有效地发挥了最新技术和创新的作用。一般而言，一致、前瞻、创新和良好实施的监管将提供一个充满活力的市场，这对服务提供商和消费者都有好处。政策制定者必须定期审查和修订监管框架，以便推动宽带和ICT的发展。[124]

至于USF，需要对基本的法律和监管框架进行结构化，以确保政策和参数能够快速而有效地得到修正，适应新USF愿景的需要，对快速变化和不断发展的优先事项做出响应。对政策制定者和监管机构而言，至关重要的是能够改变USF法律或监管框架的的范围与/或方向。[125]

在本章中，从许多发展中国家的经验中已经可以清楚地看到，为发展中国家的农村和边远地区实施电信/ICT策略不仅仅基于各个运营商的私营投资。最广泛使用的方法是结合公共政策、监管措施、公共投资和私营投资。基础设施共享和多利益攸关方合作伙伴关系是普遍采用的做法。对发展中国家而言，重要的是能够参照和引用可在最佳程度上适应农村和边远地区需求的公共政策、监管措施。由国际电联和infoDev（有关开发项目的信息）开发的ICT监管工具包[126]、ITU-D研究组案例研究库，[127]以及本报告附件2.1和2.2可能是一个很好的例子。

8 第8章 – 商业模式和对运营商的激励

8.1 引言

农村和边远地区电信/ICT的应用是推动发展的一个关键因素。根据Alain François Loukou为科特迪瓦阿比让东北行政区所做研究，并经Edva Altemar先生为Port-au-Prince南部Carrefour社区所做研究确认，在被边缘化的地区使用电信/ICT对把这些地区融入其对应的国家整个版图而言发挥着重要的作用，有助于更好地促进人与人的连接、实现更多人的互联互通。这些地区所取得的跨越式发展很大程度上要归功于非正式电信和ICT活动的出现。虽然非正式领域只是低收入国家的一个经济特色，但不可否认的是，这能够使信息在有电信和ICT技术的地方更易于获取，从而改善人们的生活水平。因此，有必要考虑电信和ICT领域的商业模式，找出最佳的方式鼓励运营商为此类地区提供服务。[128]

8.2 商业模式

在参与者提交的案例研究中，适合农村和孤立地区的商业模式的例子有：用于改善邮件递送和交付的邮政服务；用于改善电子银行服务的银行服务；固定电话服务和移动电话服务；支持其他服务的互联网服务，包括电子市场服务、通常的公共服务（保险、交通票务、注册、优先支付、税收声明等）、银行服务、其他专业服务（电子邮件、FTP管理）。最相关的商业模式是：电信中心、移动银行和电子保险。电信中心提供的信息、电信和数据服务将促进社会文化，经济和政治发展。通过接入网络，移动银行将为孤立地区提供商业机会。通过对共同目标的追求，引入或增强农村和孤立地区的保险普及率将有助于改善与国际组织的合作。

在2016年9月19-23号ITU-D第1研究组会议期间讨论商业模式时，与会者指出以下几点：

– 商业模式应该更多地关注收入来源、运营成本和资本成本（尼泊尔）；

– “公共部门-私营部门伙伴关系（PPP）”一词应由“公共部门-私营部门-人-伙伴关系（PPPP）”一词替代（喀麦隆）；

– “多方利益攸关方伙伴关系”一词是有用的，原因是它涵盖了所有方面的问题（尼泊尔）。

越南正在实施面向2020年的普遍服务计划（USP2020）。该计划的主要收入来源是电信服务收入（1.5%）、以前的普遍服务计划、来自国外机构和个人的援助和财政支持以及其他合法收入。分配给越南公共事业电信服务基金的此类收入努力开展各类支持活动，以提供公共事业电信服务及开发全国宽带电信基础设施（重点是偏远和农村地区 ） ；为所有人提供公共电信服务，并优先照顾贫困人口和渔民；确保搜索和救援通信服务、预防自然灾害和开展灾后恢复及提供紧急呼叫；确保全国学校、医院和行政委员会的互联网宽带接入；并支持面向2020年的数字红利计划。其中70%的总收入将用于支持基础设施的开发。[129]

2015年10月，中国政府决定改善中国农村和偏远地区的宽带电信普遍服务补偿机制，缩小城乡数字鸿沟，并动员利益攸关多方，以共同促进农村地区的宽带发展。该机制的运作采取的是竞争性招标等以市场为导向的方法，以鼓励基本电信服务提供商、广播公司和私营企业公平参与农村宽带基础设施的建设、运行和维护，从而使农村和边远地区亦受益于ICT的发展。[130]

缅甸根据由运营商提供的服务级别对国家进行分类。第一类为在经济上可行的地区，第二类为投资回报期较长的地区，第三类为无利润的地区。第一类地区已得到了电信服务的覆盖。第二类地区可以通过成本分摊或基础设施共享来减少投资成本。监管机构计划使用普遍服务基金（USF）在第三类地区提供电信服务。[131]

在巴西，CELCOM（蜂窝社区）项目旨在开发新技术，并为亚马逊等地区的贫困人口部署通信网络。试点项目的资金来自Pará联邦大学（UFPa）、Pará科学、技术和技术教育部（SECTET）以及Pará信息技术和通信公司（PRODEPA）。CELCOM使用Anatel颁发的科学和实验目的特殊许可（SEFCE），此许可亦为该项目提供了立法方面的支持。3个试点项目完全依托软件定义无线电（SDR）平台进行运作。[132]

8.3 对运营商的激励措施

2016年9月19-23号ITU-D第1研究组会议期间，与会者对运营商激励问题进行了讨论，并指出以下几点：

确定的事实是，需要政府和监管干预来消除发达国家或发展中国家中的城乡数字鸿沟。此外，在没有商业可行性的情况下，是很难推动服务提供商来开展商业活动的（尼泊尔）。

普遍服务基金（USF）或普遍服务提供基金，正成为最被广泛接受的、在自由化的开放环境中鼓动私营部门投资富有挑战的农村地区的机制。

通过提供针对农村和服务欠缺地区的服务补贴，可利用普遍服务基金来鼓动富裕的和不富裕的运营商来为农村和服务欠缺地区提供服务（尼日利亚）。

监管部门可以通过为投资农村或边远地区的运营商提供设备补贴、基础设施补贴等方式，来提高渗透水平。此外，降低农村地区服务许可费、政府通过骨干基础设施领域的投资来实施干预等，是推动农村和边远地区ICT服务发展的其他方式。[133]

针对服务提供商的补贴有可分为两种形式。服务参与者可以从普遍服务基金中获得针对农村通信发展的补贴，如手机补贴、基础设施补贴等；同时，可通过降低许可费、初始许可费、频谱费等激励形式，由监管机构来处理激励规则问题。（坦桑尼亚）

为实现对农村地区的覆盖，还有一个机会是在像800 MHz频段和700 MHz频段这样的较低频率许可证中纳入有关覆盖范围的义务。德国已经在800 MHz频段上成功推行这一策略。覆盖义务将从农村地区开始，一旦覆盖农村地区，将开始服务城市地区（美国英特尔公司）。

另一方面，像德国和法国这样的发达国家，将支付数十亿资金用于消除数字鸿沟，各运营商是富有的。因此，我们必须反思是否需要免除其许可费、频谱费以及为其提供有关农村基础设施发展的补贴。甚至重要的是政府应优先考虑农村的发展，但在要求发展中国家协助富裕的运营商推动农村发展之前，我们必须仔细做好考虑。在非洲，现有针对农村的投标，蜂窝电话运营商就得为频谱付费（法国ATDI）。

墨西哥采取了具有显著成果的措施，以确保为人数介于200和5000之间的边缘群体和高度边缘化的农村社区提供移动电话连接服务，此类措施隶属于一个没有政府补贴的可持续发展机制，上述社区在使用电话服务时，网内呼叫的月均费用为2.00美元，去话呼叫的费用则为每分钟0.04美元。民间协会Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad, A. C. （多样性、公平和可持续发展网络）与几所大学和其他机构一道发起了一项实验性计划，以为土著社区提供蜂窝电话服务。此类社区从前无法获得这项服务，原因是对现有运营商和许可持有者而言无利可图。该实验性计划涉及对低成本蜂窝电话基站的运行，其目的是分析此类基站的工作方式，同时还涉及包括使用蜂窝频段的专用网络（由社区拥有）在内的混合网络方案，以及使用经由许可提供商的VoIP和通过提供Wi-Fi链路的ISP连至互联网。[134]

为弥补接入方面的差距，肯尼亚通信管理局设计了通过普遍服务基金（USF）的补贴来资助的2G电信语音基础设施项目。获得此类USF合同的运营商在5年内免缴频谱费。这项豁免估计会使监管机构损失5000万美元的收入。对服务提供商提出的一些条件包括：在商业条件和非歧视性先到先得基础上运行一年后，为提供补贴服务而建造的所有BTS基站和场地空间应可用于出租，且每个BTS基站的设计均应在机械强度和其他无源基础设施（建筑空间和供电）方面达标，以容纳至少一家其他运营商。[135]

9 第9章 – 结论和导则

通过文稿、案例研究输入、成员调查问卷回复等手段，报告人小组对第5/1号课题进行了研究。研究工作和结果总结如下：

报告人小组在第1章（引言）和第2章（北京）所述的背景下启动研究工作。课题可以追溯到WTDC-94，当时批准通过了第4/2号课题“农村和边远地区的电信/ICT”。在本研究周期，作为第5/1号课题“农村和边远地区的电信/ICT”，继续推进有关的研究工作。在ITU-D之外，如WSIS、宽带委员会和国际电联战略规划中，对本研究项目做了讨论。与我们的课题相关的还包括联合国可持续发展目标（SDG），例如：目标9（建设灵活的基础设施、促进包容和可持续的工业化进程和促进创新）；以及目标10（减少国家内部和国家之间的不平等）。

为了达成这些组织设定的目标，需要应对农村和边远地区基础设施建设和发展面临的挑战。在整个研究中，从许多国家的经验中已经可以清楚地看到，有各种各样的在农村和边远地区实施电信/ICT的技术和策略，国家与国家之间各不相同。同时，农村和边远地区的社会、经济和技术状况也在快速地发生变化。

为了将电信/ICT延伸至农村和边远地区，有许多挑战需要应对，在第3章中对此做了描述（挑战）。为了应对这些挑战，需要各种不同方面的方法。例如，位置方面的劣势应通过政策和规则来弥补，如宽带政策、规划、普遍服务基金。电信基础设施高昂的安装和运营成本可以通过新技术来克服。市场规模小带来的挑战应通过商业模式的构建来解决。农村和边远地区的教育是重要的，ICT服务和应用可有效解决这一问题。

如雨后春笋般出现的新兴技术有些适用于上文所述农村和边远地区的严酷环境。在第4章（技术）中对无线技术和有线技术做了描述。这些技术在相互竞争或相互协作中得以进步；定性而言，相对建设成本和带宽因此而很好地保持了稳定。移动宽带通常是解决农村和边远地区宽带需求的一种快速方法。

在发展中国家的农村和边远地区提供电信/ICT服务，如基本语音、短信、视频会议和互联网服务等，是很重要的，但并不是有利可图的。在第5章（服务和应用）中介绍了有关这些服务和应用安装的例子。

在许多发展中国家存在城乡数字鸿沟。有一种强烈的差距中观察到的水平可在个人/家庭ICT技能层面看到巨大差距，ICT可在教育领域发挥非常有效的作用，在第6章中对此做了描述（教育领域的ICT）。在国家层面上，ICT将提供平等的教育机会。宽带技术具备应对众多挑战和克服农村经济传统局限性的潜力，尤其是那些与距离和接入有关的挑战和限制。ICT在教育领域可以发挥重要的作用，为农村地区教育、医疗、农业、商业和其他领域的人力资源建设贡献力量。许多国家的政府正在通过不同的机制来帮助人们拥有经济上可承受的宽带连接和设备。

一些发展中国家已经成功利用公共政策和监管措施在农村和边远地区安装了电信/ICT，如第7章（公共政策和监管措施）所述。国际电联发现，在监管措施到位、最新技术和创新得以充分利用和发挥作用的国家，业务增长最快。为充满活力的市场提供连贯、前瞻、创新、到位的监管，将为服务提供商和消费者提供双赢的机会。政策制定者必须对监管框架进行定期评审和修订，以推动农村和边远地区电信/ICT的发展。

重要的是保持ICT在农村和边远地区的可持续发展。为了做到这一点，商业模式和对运营商的激励是必不可少的，这在第8章描述（商业模式和对运营商的激励）。

以下结论来自本研究期内成员国、部门成员、部门准成员和学术成员提交的文稿以及对全球调查所做的分析（附件2.1和2.2）。它们包含一般性建议，这可能有助于发展中国家考虑如何更好地实施农村和边远地区电信/ICT解决方案并达成预期目标。

– 发展中国家面临诸多挑战，缺乏本地需求和可用的收入来源，这可能延迟电信/ICT在在农村和边远地区的部署与应用。宽带委员会的研究建议，宽带计划的引入将带来更高的宽带普及率。事实上，大多数国家拥有面向农村和边远地区发展的国家电信/ICT/宽带规划，如附件2.1和2.2所示。建议应制定和审议包括短期目标、长期目标及实施措施在内的国家整体规划。同时，基于该规划，在实施面向国家各层面人群的电信/ICT解决方案时，需要建立政府、监管机构、运营商和其他利益攸关方之间的合作伙伴关系。

– 至于电信技术，在技术选择上没有任何明确的措施，我们应该对各种各样可能最适合农村和边远地区某处地方的技术做好比较。做好对项目技术、经济和地理方面因素的考虑至关重要。在此，应考虑到技术中立问题。对接入技术而言，无线技术得到了最广泛的应用，如2G、3G、LTE、Wi-Fi、WiMax（附件2.1和2.2），一般来说，无线技术是一种快速的、可满足农村和边远地区需求的方法。

– 发展中国家有必要鼓励加强农村和边远地区基础设施的建设，在这些地区，财务回报比较低。要求发展中国家实施激励政策，刺激电信网络、公共接入点（如电信中心）等的发展。可以实施基础设施共享，以免在发展中国家的农村和边远地区出现重复投资现象。从成员提交的许多文稿中可以看到，电力供应是最关键的问题之一。在农村和边远地区，商业性的电力供应不稳定，应考虑结合采用其他能源，如太阳能电池和风力发电等。

– 重要的是要增加此类地区的电子应用，如农业、教育、医疗、治理等，并促进采纳措施，以便在当地创建和发展适当的服务。同时，ICT是一个伟大的工具，将有助于加强农村和边远地区的教育。在许多情况下都强调了要积极开展面向所有人群（从小孩到老人）的计算机技能培训，这将为农村人口提供帮助，并将因此而阻止人口从农村到城市的流动。在附件2.1和2.2中可以看到，很多国家在农村和边远地区的教育方面制定了国家政策，对此，部门与部门之间的协调、尤其ICT部与教育部之间的协调至关重要。

– 为发展中国家的农村和边远地区实施电信/ICT战略并不完全基于单个运营商的私营投资。在对用于实现农村和边远地区目标的策略的全球调查中发现，有两个主要的工具：普遍服务基金（USF）和许可条件（附件2.1和2.2）。应准备好与普遍服务基金有关的监管框架和频率许可，以便适应与农村和边远地区新技术和新服务有关的、快速变化的环境。在发展中国家，为了考虑使用适用于农村和边远地区的低频谱，可在许可条件中要求实施与在农村和边远地区提供服务有关的义务。

– 关于农村和边远地区商业模式的全球调查显示，三种主要的手段是开放竞争、公共部门－私营部门伙伴关系（PPP）‎和补贴（附件2.1和2.2）。在发展中国家，无法预期高的金融回报，仅有开放竞争是不够的，可持续发展的商业计划是必要的。PPP有助于推动基础设施投资，刺激农村和边远地区的竞争。在发展中国家，最缺乏ICT基础设施，因此有关ICT基础设施的补贴是一种有效的手段。重要的是要把各利益攸关方联合到一个协作过程中来。

– 由于缺乏关于最佳做法的技巧，许多发展中国家无法为农村和边远地区提出一个有效的政策。ITU-D研究小组案例研究库正在总结案例特征，将有助于为农村项目的规划者提供成功做法。附件2.1和2.2中的全球调查回复对了解发展状况是一个很好的工具。对发展中国家而言，能够参考和引用最佳适应农村和边远地区要求的公共政策、监管措施将是重要的。国际电联的ICT监管工具包和infoDev（开发项目的信息）是一个很好的例子，ITU-D研究小组案例研究库[136]和本报告附件2.1和2.2也是很好的例子。

本报告提供了关于农村和边远地区电信/ICT项目规划、实施方案、运营与维护的案例研究结果。不同的因素有不同的方式，这取决于不同国家的状况，但上述结论和建议可作为发展中国家的指导方针。通过这种方式，我们希望本报告可用作一个有价值的文稿，来讨论如何在农村和边远地区建立电信/ICT技术。

鸣谢

报告人Shuichi Nishimoto先生（日本KDDI公司）对副报告人、志愿者、BDT第5/1号课题联络人以及国际电联的工作人员表示感谢，感谢他们为本《最后报告》的完成所给予的协作。另外，本报告人亦对提交了输入文稿的各成员国、部门成员、部门准成员、学术成员表示感谢，感谢他们在第5/1号课题本研究周期内对报告人小组工作的积极参与。

参与起草《最后报告》的副报告人如下所示：

姓名

国家

负责最后报告部分

Zhang Li女士

中华人民共和国

第4章

Edva Altemar先生

海地

第8章

Tharalika Livera女士

斯里兰卡

第8章、第3章部分

Christopher G. Banda先生

马拉维

附件2

参与起草《最后报告》的其他志愿者和国际电联工作人员如下所示：

姓名

国家

负责最后报告部分

Turhan Muluk先生

英特尔公司（美国）

第5章、第6章、附件4

Christine Sund女士

协调人，ITU-D研究组

附件1、附件2部分

Phillippa Biggs女士

国际电联总秘书处

附件3

Abbreviations and acronyms

Various abbreviations and acronyms are used through the document, they are provided here.

Abbreviation/acronym

Description

ACE

Africa Coast to Europe optical fibre initiative

ADSL

Asymmetric DSL

ALD

Assistive Listening Devices

ANATEL

Brazilian Telecommunications Agency (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) (Federative Republic of Brazil)

ANEEL

Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica) (Federative Republic of Brazil)

ANP

Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis) (Federative Republic of Brazil)

ANT

Access Network Transport

APT

Asia-Pacific Telecommunity

ARIB

Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (Japan)

ARPU

Average Revenue Per User

ARTEC

Regulatory Authority for Communication Technologies (Republic of Madagascar)

ASEP

National Authority of Public Services (Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos) (Republic of Panama)

ASTAP

APT Standardization Program Forum

ATRA

Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (Afghanistan)

BAP

Buenos Action Plan

BBS

Burundi Backbone System

BDT

Telecommunication Development Bureau

BRAN

Broadband Radio Access Network (ETSI)

CA

Communications Authority (Republic of Kenya)

Capex

Capital expenditure

CATV

Cable Television

CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access

CEB

Chief Executive Board for Coordination

CELCOM

Cellular Community

CITC

Communications and Information Technology Commission (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

CITTC

China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (People’s Republic of China)

CMC

Community Multimedia Centre

CONATEL

Central Bank and the Telecommunication Regulatory Body

CPE

Customer Premises Equipment

CRA

Communications Regulatory Authority (Islamic Republic of Iran)

CTA

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation

DCN

Distract Communication Network

DOCSIS

Data over Cable Service Interface Specification

DPSNTIC

National Policy and Strategy for the Development of. Information and Communication. Technologies (Republic of Guinea)

DrukREN

National Research and Education Network (Kingdom of Bhutan)

DSA

Dynamic Spectrum Access

DSL

Digital Subscriber Lines (originally “Digital Subscriber Loop”)

DSLAM

Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer

DTV

Digital Television

ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute

EUTESALAT IGO

Intelsat and European Telecommunications Satellite Organization

EVDO

Evolution-Data Optimized

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

FDD

Frequency Division Duplex

FDMA

Frequency Division Multiple Access

FDTIC

Telecommunications/ICT Development Fund (Republic of Madagascar)

FITEL

Telecommunications Investment Fund (Fondo de Inversión en Telecomunicaciones)

FG DFS

ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services

FG SSC

ITU-T Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities

FTP

File Transfer Protocol

FTTB

Fibre-to-the-Building

FTTC

Fibre-to-the-Curb

FTTH

Fibre-to-the-Home

FTTN

Fibre-to-the-Node

FTTx

Fibre to the x, where “x” indicates the final location on the user side of any one of a variety of optical fibre architectures, e.g., FTTB, FTTC, FTTH, FTTP.

FWA

Fixed Wireless Access

GEO

Geostationary Earth Orbit

GHz

Gigahertz

GPON

Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications

GSR

Global Symposium of Regulators

GVG

Global Voice Guinée (Republic of Guinea)

HC-SDMA

High Capacity-Spatial Division Multiple Access

HDTV

High-Definition Television

HiSWANa

High Speed Wireless Access Network – Type A

HNC

Home Network Transport

HSPA

Higher Order Satellite Path Adaptation

HTS

High-Throughput Satellites

ICE

Costa Rica Institute of Electricity (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad) (Costa Rica)

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

ICT4D

Information and Communication Technologies for Development

ICT4Rag

ICT strategy for Rwandan Agriculture

ICTA

Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka)

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

IFT

Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) (Mexico)

IMT

International Mobile Telecommunications

IMT-2020

Those systems that conform to the corresponding series of ITU Recommendations and Radio Regulations.

INDER

National Institute of Rural Development (Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Rural) (Costa Rica)

IOM

International Organization for Migration (People’s Republic of Bangladesh)

IoT

Internet of Things

IpSEC

IP Security Protocol

IPTV

Internet Protocol Television

ISDN

Integrated Services Digital Network

ISP

Internet Service Provider

ITSO

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization

ITU

International Telecommunication Union

ITU-D

ITU Telecommunication Development Sector

ITU-R

ITU Radiocommunication Sector

ITU-T

ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector

JCA-AHF

Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors

KICA 2009

Kenya Information Communications Amendment Act 2009 (Republic of Kenya)

KICR US&A 2010

Kenya Information and Communications Regulations 2010 (Republic of Kenya)

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

KVD

Kioscos Vive Digital (Colombia)

KW

kilowatt

LDCs

Least Developed Countries

LEO

Low-Earth Orbit

LTE

Long-Term Evolution

M2M

Machine to Machine

MACRA

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority

MDGs

Millennium Development Goals

MHz

Megahertz

MIIT

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

MDRU

Movable and Deployable Resource Unit

MEO

Medium-Earth Orbit

MHz

Megahertz

MPT

Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (Union of Myanmar)

MSIP

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Republic of Korea)

MTP

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (P.D.R Lao)

MYICT

Ministry of Youth and ICT (Republic of Rwanda)

MW

Megawatt

NGEO

Non-Geostationary Earth Orbit

NICI

National Information and Communication Infrastructure (Republic of Rwanda)

NPV

Net Present Value

NSO

National Statistical Offices

NTA

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (Republic of Nepal)

ODN

Optical Distribution Network

OFCOM

Office Fédéral de la Communication (OFCOM) (Confedeartion of Switzerland)

OFDMA

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access

ONU

Optical Network Unit

OPGW

Optical Ground Wire

PABF

Plan for Use of Frequency Bands in the National Radio Spectrum (Programa Annual de Bandas de Frecuencias de radio) (Mexico)

PGMU

General Plan on Universal Service

PON

Passive Optical Network

PP

Plenipotentiary Conference

PPP

Public Private Partnership

PPPP

Public Private Population Partnership

PRODEPA

Company of Information Technology and Communications (Empresa de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação do Estado do Pará) (Pará, Federative Republic of Brazil)

PSTN

Public Switched Telephone Network

PtMP

Point to Multi-Point

PtP

Point to Point

QoE

Quality of Experience

QoS

Quality of Service

QoSTP

Quality of Service Training Programme

RA

Radiocommunication Assembly

RBS

Radio Base Stations

RDC

Rural District Council (Republic of Zimbabwe)

RLAN

Radio Local Area Network

RURA

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Republic of Rwanda)

RwEdNet

Rwanda Education Network

SCDMA

Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

SDR

Software Defined Radio

SDSL

Symmetric DSL

SECTET

Department of Science, Technology and Technical Education (Secretaria de Estado de Ciência, Tecnologia e Educação Profissional e Tecnológica) (Pará, Federative Republic of Brazil)

SEFCE

Special License for Scientific and Experimental Purposes

SHDSL

Symmetric-High Speed DSL

SMEs

Small and Medium-sized Entreprises

SMS

Short Message Service

SOHO

Small Office Home Office

STFC

Fixed Switched Telephone Service

TATT

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago)

TDCF

Telecommunication Development Charge Fund

TDD

Time Division Duplex

TDF

Telecommunications Development Fund

TDMA

Time Division Multiple Access

ToS

Type of Service

TRCLS

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka)

TSAG

Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group

TUP

Public Use Telephone

TWP

Twisted Pair

UAF

Universal Access Fund

UAS

Universal Access Service

UFPa

Federal University of Pará (Universidade Federal do Pará) (Federative Republic of Brazil)

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UN

United Nations

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNGA

United Nations General Assembly

UNGIS

United Nations Group on the Information Society

UNSD

UN Statistics Division

URDD

Urban-Rural Digital Divide

USAID

United States Agency for International Development (United States of America)

USF

Universal Service Fund

USO

Universal Service Obligation

USP 2020

Universal Service Program toward 2020

VAT

Value Added Tax

VCN

Virtual Channel Number

VDSL

Very High-Speed DSL

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol

VSAT

Very Small Aperture Terminal

WARCIP

West Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Project (Republic of Guinea/World Bank Programme)

WIMAX

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WMAN

Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

WP

Working Parties

WSIS

World Summit on the Information Society

WLL

Wireless Local Loop

WRC

World Radiocommunication Conference

WTDC

World Telecommunication Development Conference

xDSL

Various types of Digital Subscriber Lines

XGP

eXtended Global Platform

Annexes

Annex 1: All documents received for Question 5/1

Reports

Web

Received

Source

Title

1/REP/35

2017-03-01

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Tuesday, 28 March 2017, 09:30 -12:30 hours)

RGQ/REP/23

2017-01-13

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report for the Rapporteur Group meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Tuesday, 10 January 2017, 09:30 - 12:30 and 14:30 - 17:30 hours)

1/REP/25
(Rev.1)

2016-09-19

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Tuesday, 20 September 2016, 09:30 -12:30 hours)

RGQ/REP/14

2016-04-24

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Friday, 15 April 2016, 09:00 -12:00 and 14:30 - 17:30 hours)

1/REP/15

2015-09-15

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group Meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Tuesday 15 September 2015, 09:30 - 12:30 hours)

RGQ/REP/5

2015-04-24

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group Meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Friday, 24 April 2015, 09:30 -12:30 and 14:30 - 17:30 hours)

1/REP/5

2014-09-17

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group Meeting on Question 5/1 (Geneva, Wednesday 17 September 2014, 09:30 - 12:30 hours)

Question 5/1 contributions for Rapporteur Group and Study Group meetings

Web

Received

Source

Title

1/468

2017-01-17

Argentine Republic

National Plan for the Development of Competitiveness and Quality Conditions of Mobile Communication Services

1/467

2017-01-17

Argentine Republic

Argentina reconverts the “Enabling environment for the development of telecommunications/ICTs”

1/441

2017-01-10

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group meeting on Question 5/1, Geneva, 10 January 2017

1/428

2017-02-14

China (People’s Republic of)

Project “Xueliang” (Shiny) aimed at the realization of smart communities in rural and remote areas

1/427

2017-02-14

Democratic Republic of the Congo

TIC pour les zones rurales cas de la RDC

1/425

2017-02-14

China (People’s Republic of)

Discussion on the architecture of smart mobile wireless broadband networks for rural informatization

1/423

2017-02-14

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Discussion on the future of Question 5/1

1/416
[OR]

2017-02-10

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Final Report for Question 5/1

1/407

2017-02-08

Bhutan (Kingdom of)

National research & education network in Bhutan

1/406

2017-02-01

Burundi (Republic of)

Impact of the national fibre-optic backbone in connecting rural areas in Burundi

1/404

2017-02-01

Paraguay (Republic of)

El dinero móvil en áreas rurales del Paraguay

RGQ/315

2016-12-29

Sri Lanka

Girls in ICT

RGQ/301

2016-12-02

Senegal (Republic of)

The C, Ku and Ka bands as alternative solutions for an effective universal service and other vital uses in developing countries

RGQ/299

2016-11-28

Senegal (Republic of)

Overview of the Digital Senegal 2025 (Sénégal Numérique 2025) Strategy validated and adopted in 2016

RGQ/297

2016-11-25

Brazil (Federative Republic of)

Cellular Community Networks in isolated areas: Brazilian Amazon as a case study

RGQ/296

2016-11-25

Myanmar (Union of)

Information access for remote areas in Myanmar

RGQ/295

2016-11-25

China (People’s Republic of)

China’s Rural Broadband Development and Measures

RGQ/292

2016-11-25

Japan

Japan’s case for strategic plans

RGQ/290

2016-11-24

Kenya (Republic of)

Rural connectivity through subsides and spectrum fees waiver: The Kenyan experience

RGQ/286

2016-11-24

Rwanda (Republic of)

Use of ICTs for agricultural development in Rwanda

RGQ/284

[OR]

2016-11-23

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft Final Report for Question 5/1

RGQ/265

2016-10-31

Mexico

Implementación de la Recomendación UIT-D 19 en México

RGQ/256

2016-10-31

Viet Nam (Socialist Republic of)

Program on universalization of public-utility telecommunication services in rural and remote areas

1/385

2016-09-07

Inmarsat plc.

Satellite broadband applications in support of development

1/382

2016-09-07

Iran University of Science and Technology

The effects of Digital skill and e-Education in ICTs for Rural and Remote Area

1/381

2016-09-09

Iran University of Science and Technology

ICT Status in Rural Area in Iran

1/376

2016-09-07

Qualcomm, Inc.

Wireless Heart Health: China Case Study

1/375

2016-09-07

Qualcomm, Inc.

Fishing with mobile nets: Colombia case study

1/374

2016-09-07

Qualcomm, Inc.

India - Stove Trace Case Study

1/368
+Ann.1

2016-09-07

Korea (Republic of)

ICT improvement initiatives in remote and isolated areas: GiGA Island Project in Bangladesh

1/353
+Ann.1

2016-09-07

BDT Focal Point for Q1/1

Information on the ITU Interactive Transmission Maps

1/347

2016-08-15

General Secretariat

Proposed text for Chapter 4 on Measuring the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD)

1/346

2016-08-09

China (People’s Republic of)

Discussion on the structure of wireless broadband network for rural informatization

1/344

2016-08-09

Gambia (Republic of the)

Moving from 2G to Broadband, The Gambian Experience

1/334

2016-08-05

Brazil (Federative Republic of)

State governments’ policy to increase mobile access in rural area

1/329

2016-08-05

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, EUTELSAT, INTELSAT

The Critical Role of Satellite in Connecting the Unconnected

1/318

[OR]

2016-08-05

Rapporteurs for Question 5/1

Draft Report of Question 5/1

1/317

2016-08-05

Intel Corporation

Proposed text for Chapter 6 of the Q5/1 Report

1/316

2016-08-05

Japan

Proposals for revised texts related to ICT unit in the report of ICT experiences in disaster relief

1/313

2016-08-04

Senegal (Republic of)

Consideration of the satellite option as a development alternative for the universal service and other development-oriented services

1/312

2016-08-04

Senegal (Republic of)

Widespread implementation of Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) in Senegal

1/308
+Ann.1

2016-08-04

BDT Focal Point for Question 6/1

GSR 2016 Discussion Papers and Best Practice Guidelines

1/302

2016-08-04

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Revised work plan for Question 5/1

1/301

2016-08-04

Madagascar (Republic of)

Enabling environment for the development of ICTs

1/291

2016-08-02

Kenya (Republic of)

Use of the Universal Services Fund for extension of ICT Services in rural and remote areas in Kenya

1/288

2016-07-29

Haiti (Republic of)

Proposal for the draft report on Question 5/1, Chapter 9

1/283

2016-07-28

China (People’s Republic of)

Reduce costs, improve efficiency, increase conversion rate to promote FTTH deployment

1/282

2016-07-28

China (People’s Republic of)

Discussion on the structure of wireless broadband network for better ICT development in rural areas

1/270

2016-07-22

Madagascar (Republic of)

Telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas

1/265

2016-07-12

Sri Lanka (Democratic Socialist Republic of)

Proposed text for Chapters 3 and 8 of the Q5/1 report

1/254

2016-06-28

Burundi (Republic of)

Impact of the national fibre-optic backbone in connecting rural areas in Burundi

1/245

2016-04-15

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group Meeting on Question 5/1, Geneva, 15 April 2016

RGQ/234

2016-03-22

Iran University of Science and Technology

E-insurance for rural area in Iran: A Public ICT-Based service

RGQ/233

2016-03-22

Iran University of Science and Technology, Iran

ICT Development policies for the remote and rural areas in Iran

RGQ/226

+Ann.1

2016-03-22

General Secretariat

Measuring the urban-rural digital divide

RGQ/225

+Ann.1

2016-03-22

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Overview of input received through the ITU-D Study Group 1 Question 5/1 Global survey on telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas

RGQ/214

2016-03-22

Vice-Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Analysis of questionnaire replies for the global survey for Question 5/1

RGQ/197

2016-03-13

Intel Corporation

Draft Chapter on “ICT in Education” for the final report

RGQ/196

2016-03-17

China (People’s Republic of)

Draft text of Chapter 4 for the final report

RGQ/176

(Rev.1)

2016-03-05

Sri Lanka (Democratic Socialist Republic of)

Closing the Gap of Digital Divide

RGQ/169

2016-03-01

Afghanistan

Recent achievements and initiatives in the area of telecommunications/ICTs with particular attention to rural and remote areas

RGQ/161
(Rev.1)

2016-02-22

Alcatel-Lucent France, Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.

Proposed initial text for clause 2.2 of the Q2/1 report

RGQ/155

2016-02-19

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft text of Chapter 7 and tentative outline of Chapter 9 for the final report

RGQ/151

2016-02-17

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Revised work plan for Question 5/1

RGQ/147

2016-02-17

Rwanda (Republic of)

ICT in education sector of Rwanda

1/217

2015-08-30

Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of)

The Universal Service Fund

1/206

2015-08-26

China (People’s Republic of)

"Rural Broadband" innovation mode, creating a new era of optical network in rural areas

1/194

2015-08-19

Zimbabwe (Republic of)

The universal services fund as a driver of telecommunication/ICT development in rural and remote areas

1/191

2015-08-19

China (People’s Republic of)

The discussion of optimizing basic network structure of wireless broadband in rural areas

1/189

2015-08-12

Telefon AB - LM Ericsson

Evolution in mobile broadband networks, for its consideration in the reports

1/182

2015-08-06

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft text of Chapter 1 for the final report

1/181

2015-08-06

Intel Corporation

ICT in Education - Rural and Remote Areas

1/164

2015-07-31

Côte d'Ivoire (Republic of)

The need to develop a method of estimating licence costs

1/158

2015-08-17

China (People’s Republic of)

The experience of China Telecom in developing “Broadband Villages”

1/156

2015-07-31

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Revised table of contents and division of work for the Final Report of Question 5/1

1/144

2015-07-24

Guinea (Republic of)

Situation regarding access to telecommunication/ICT infrastructure and services in rural and isolated areas in the Republic of Guinea

1/140

2015-07-23

Haiti (Republic of)

Business model and operator encouragement

1/105

2015-05-07

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Report of the Rapporteur Group Meeting on Question 5/1, Geneva, 24 April 2015

RGQ/108

2015-04-01

Intel Corporation

Reflection of “ICT in education” chapters in the reports

RGQ/107

2015-03-31

BDT Focal Point for Question 5/1

Summary of the study “Broadband situations in rural and remote areas”

RGQ/99

2015-03-31

Rwanda (Republic of)

Telecommunication and ICT initiatives in Rwanda

RGQ/94
+Ann.1

2015-03-27

KDDI Corporation

Example of mobile base stations with satellite backhauls

RGQ/87

2015-03-19

Brazil (Federative Republic of)

Providing optical fibre backbone to remote areas through infrastructure sharing between the telecommunications and electricity sectors

RGQ/41

2015-02-26

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft Questionnaire for the global survey

RGQ/40

2015-02-26

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft Table of Contents of the final report of Question 5/1: “Telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas”

RGQ/32

2015-02-24

Burundi (Republic of)

Rural connectivity and its impact on socio-economic development for the rural population in Burundi

RGQ/11

2014-12-15

Rapporteur for Question 5/1

Draft work plan for Question 5/1

RGQ/2

2014-09-08

Viet Nam (Socialist Republic of)

Information on the development of provision of public utility telecommunication services in Viet Nam

1/61
+Ann.1

2014-09-02

Japan

Report of analysis of case studies on the new ITU-D case study library

1/59
+Ann.1

2014-08-29

BDT Focal Point for Question 5/1

Background document for Study Group 1 on Question 5/1

1/47

2014-08-21

KDDI Corporation

Draft work plan for Question 5/1

1/46

2014-08-19

China (People’s Republic of)

Rural broadband in China and proposals for Question 5/1 study

1/45

2014-08-14

Madagascar (Republic of)

Accès aux TIC dans les zones rurales et enclavées

Contributions for QAll for Rapporteur Group and Study Group meetings

Web

Received

Source

Title

1/458
+Ann.1

2017-03-17

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Feedback received through the survey on ITU-D Study Group Questions, Procedures, and Proposals on Future Activities

1/457

2017-03-17

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Innovation activities in ITU-D

1/454

2017-03-15

Russian Federation

Proposals for the revision and rearrangement of ITU-D Study Groups 1 and 2 Study Questions

1/447
+Ann.1-2

2017-03-09

Rapporteur for Question 9/2

Analysis of feedback received through the global survey on the work of ITU-D study groups

1/434

2017-02-22

Vice-Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 2 , and Co-Rapporteur for Question 8/2

Study Groups, study Questions, and working method for WTDC-17

1/432
+Ann.1

2017-02-17

Côte d’Ivoire (Republic of)

Draft texts for the revision of the study Questions and new Questions for the period 2018-2021

1/431

2017-02-17

Côte d’Ivoire (Republic of)

Proposal for new Question on Internet of Things for the study period 2018-2021

1/396

2017-01-30

Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1, Vice-Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1

Survey on ITU-D Study Group Questions, Procedures, and Proposals on Future Activities

1/371

2016-09-07

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Update on innovation activities to ITU-D Study Groups

1/332

2016-08-05

General Secretariat

WSIS Stocktaking 2014-2016 Regional Reports of ICT Projects and Activities

1/331

2016-08-05

General Secretariat

WSIS Prizes 2016-2017

1/330

2016-08-05

General Secretariat

WSIS Stocktaking 2016-2017

1/310

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Action Line Roadmaps C2, C5 and C6

1/309

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

ITU’s Contribution to the Implementation of the WSIS Outcomes 2016

1/307

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Forum 2016 and SDG Matrix

1/306

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Action Lines Supporting Implementation of the SDGs

1/305

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Forum 2016: High Level Track Outcomes and Executive Brief

1/304

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Forum 2016 Outcome Document - Forum Track

1/303
(Rev.1)

2016-08-04

General Secretariat

WSIS Forum 2017 - Open Consultation Process

1/253
(Rev.1)
+Ann.1

2016-05-31

Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1

Compendium of Draft Outlines for expected outputs to be produced by ITU-D Study Group 1 Questions and Resolution 9 (September 2016)

RGQ/204

2016-03-18

BDT Focal Point for Question 8/1 and Resolution 9

Outcomes of RA-15,WRC-15 and CPM19-1 related to ITU-D

RGQ/152

2016-02-18

Kazakhstan (Republic of)

Contribution from Kazakhstan to Questions 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 6/1, 7/1, 8/1 and 5/2

1/232
+Ann.1

2015-09-13

Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1

Work plan for ITU-D Study Group 1 (September 2015)

1/231
(Rev.1)

2015-09-04

Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1

Compendium of Draft Outlines for Expected Outputs to be Produced by ITU-D Study Group 1 Questions and Resolution 9 (September 2015)

1/229
(Rev.1)

2015-09-02

Argentine Republic

Draft new Resolution: “Telecommunication/ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities and persons with specific needs”

1/228
(Rev.1)

2015-09-02

Argentine Republic

Modification of the Resolution ITU-R 61 “Contribution in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society”

1/200

2015-08-25

Telecommunication Development Bureau

ITU-D Study Groups Innovation Update

1/183

2015-08-07

Telecommunication Development Bureau

1st ITU-D Academia Network Meeting

1/145

2015-07-24

General Secretariat

WSIS Forum 2015: High level policy statements, Outcome document, Reports on WSIS Stocktaking

1/126

2015-07-06

Uganda (Republic of)

Increasing women’s participation in ITU Study Groups’ work

1/125

2015-06-29

BDT Focal Point for Question 1/1

ITU GSR15 discussion papers and best practice guidelines

1/70

2014-09-18

Chairman, ITU-D Study Group 1

Appointed Rapporteurs and Vice-Rapporteurs of ITU-D Study Group 1 Questions for the 2014-2018 period

1/66

2014-09-04

Telecommunication Development Bureau

List of information documents

1/65

2014-09-03

Australia, Samoa (Independent State of), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Vanuatu (Republic of)

Numbering misappropriation

1/64

2014-09-03

Intel Corporation

New question for ITU-D Study Group 1 (2014-2018): Assistance to developing countries for the implementation of ICT programs in education

1/50

2014-08-28

United States of America

Selected recent developments in U.S. spectrum management

1/48

2014-08-23

Nepal (Republic of)

Need for developing detailed table of contents for each Question under both the ITU-D Study Groups at the beginning

1/38
+Ann.1

2014-08-04

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Quality of Service Training Programme (QoSTP)

1/22

2014-06-27

BDT Focal Point for Question 1/1

Status report on Regulatory and Market Environment

1/5
(Rev.1-2)

2014-09-08

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Candidates for Rapporteurs and Vice-Rapporteurs of ITU-D Study Group 1 and 2 study Questions for the 2014-2018 period

1/4

2014-09-01

Telecommunication Development Bureau

List of WTDC Resolutions and ITU-D Recommendations relevant to the work of the ITU-D Study Groups

1/3

2014-08-20

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Resolution 9 (Rev. Dubai, 2014): Participation of countries, particularly developing countries, in spectrum management

1/2
+Ann.1

2014-08-20

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Resolution 2 (Rev. Dubai, 2014): Establishment of study groups + Full text of all ITU-D Study Group 1 Questions in Annex 1

1/1

2014-06-11

Telecommunication Development Bureau

Resolution 1 (Rev. Dubai, 2014): Rules of procedure of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector

Information Documents

Web

Received

Source

Title

1/INF/2

2014-09-02

Rwanda (Republic of)

Telecommunication and ICT initiatives in Rwanda

Liaison Statements

Web

Received

Source

Title

RGQ/269

2016-10-31

ITU-T Study Group 5

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG5 to ITU-D SG1 Question 5/1 on Telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas

1/251

2016-05-18

ITU-T Study Group 5

Liaison statement from ITU-T Study Group 5 to ITU-D Study 1 and 2 on updates on ITU-T SG 5 activities relevant to ITU-D study groups

1/127

2015-07-04

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG15 to ITU-D SGs on ITU-T SG15 OTNT standardization work plan

Liaison Statements for QAll

Web

Received

Source

Title

1/460

2017-03-17

ITU-T JCA-AHF

Liaison Statement from ITU-T JCA-AHF to ITU-D SG1 on recent meeting reports of Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors (JCA-AHF)

1/456

2017-03-17

ITU-T JCA-AHF

Liaison Statement from ITU-T JCA-AHF to ITU-D SG1 on Call for voluntary contributions to the ITU Accessibility Fund

1/398

2017-01-31

ITU-T Study Group 12

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG12 to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on operational plan for implementation of WTSA-16 Resolution 95 (Hammamet, 2016)

RGQ/260

2016-10-31

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG15 to ITU-D Study Groups 1 and 2 on the latest version of the Access Network Transport (ANT), Smart Grid and Home Network Transport (HNT) Standards Overviews and Work Plans

1/287

2016-07-29

TSAG

Liaison Statement from TSAG to ITU-D Study Groups on ITU inter-sector coordination

1/286

2016-07-29

ITU-T JCA-AHF

Liaison statement from ITU-T JCA-AHF Chairman to ITU-D SG1 on JCA-AHF recent meeting report

1/257

2016-06-28

ITU-T Study Group 12

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG12 to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on revised definition of Quality of Experience (QoE) and new terms in Rec. P.10/G.100

1/256

2016-06-28

ITU-T Study Group 12

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG12 to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on ITU inter-Sector coordination (reply to TSAG LS17)

RGQ/204

2016-03-18

BDT Focal Point for Question 8/1 and Resolution 9

Outcomes of RA-15, WRC-15 and CPM19-1 related to ITU-D

RGQ/186

2016-03-09

ITU-R Study Groups -Working Party 5D (IMT System)

Liaison statement from ITU-R WP 5D to ITU-D SG1 on Working document towards a preliminary draft new report ITU-R SM.(innovative regulatory tools)

RGQ/181

2016-03-07

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison statement from ITU-T SG15 to ITU-D SG1 and 2 on the latest version of the Access Network Transport (ANT), Smart Grid and Home Network Transport (HNT) Standards Overviews and Work Plans

RGQ/172

2016-03-03

ITU-D Study Group 15

Liaison statement from ITU-T Study Group 15 to ITU-D SG 1 and 2 on ITU-T SG15 OTNT standardization work plan

RGQ/171

2016-03-03

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison statement from ITU-T Study Group 15 to ITU-D SG 1 and 2 on new technical classification and numbering of ITU-T L-Series Recommendations

RGQ/139

2016-02-08

TSAG

Liaison statement from TSAG to ITU-D study groups 1 and 2 on ITU inter-Sector coordination

RGQ/124

2015-11-18

ITU-R Study Group Department

Liaison statement from ITU-R Study Group Department to ITU-D SG 1 and 2 on Resolutions approved at the Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-15)

RGQ/118

2015-09-29

Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

Liaison statement from the APT Standardization Program Forum (ASTAP) to ITU-D Study Group 1 and 2 on NGN activities

1/202

2015-08-24

ITU-T JCA-AHF

Liaison Statement from ITU-T JCA-AHF, Chairman to ITU-D SGs on Draft meeting report of Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors (JCA-AHF) in Geneva on 17 June 2015

1/128

2015-07-10

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG15 to ITU-D SGs on the latest versions of the Access Network Transport (ANT), Smart Grid and Home Network Transport (HNT) Standards Overviews and Work Plans

1/127

2015-07-04

ITU-T Study Group 15

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG15 to ITU-D SGs on ITU-T SG15 OTNT standardization work plan

1/124

2015-07-12

TSAG

Liaison Statement from TSAG to ITU-D Study Groups on ITU inter-sector coordination

1/120

2015-06-23

ITU-R Study Groups -Working Party 1B

Liaison Statement from ITU-R WP1B to ITU-D Study Group 1 on Working document towards a preliminary draft new report ITU-R SM on Innovative regulatory tools

1/116

2015-05-19

ITU-T Focus Group on SSC

Liaison Statement from ITU-T FGSSC to ITU-D SGs on Final deliverables of the Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities (FG SSC) and proposal of a new Study Group

1/113

2015-05-12

ITU-T Study Group 13

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG13 to ITU-D SGs on Development of the Roadmap on IMT

1/100

2015-04-30

ITU-T Study Group 11

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG11 to ITU-D Study Groups on the progress on standardization work to combat Counterfeit ICT devices

1/99

2015-04-29

ITU-T Study Group 16

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG16 to ITU-D SGs on ITU-D SG1 and SG2 Questions of interest to ITU-T Study Groups

1/98

2015-04-29

ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (DFS) to ITU-D Study Groups on BDT’s work on ITU m-Powering Development

1/97

2015-04-29

ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (DFS) to ITU-D Study Groups concerning its work

RGQ/68

2015-03-03

ITU-T Study Group 16

Liaison Statement from ITU-T SG16 to ITU-D SGs on ITU-D SG1 and SG2 Questions of interest to ITU-T Study Groups

RGQ/28

2015-02-10

ITU-R Study Groups -Working Party 5D

Liaison Statement from ITU Radiocommunication Study Groups WP5D to ITU-D Study Groups concerning the Handbook on “Global Trends in IMT”

RGQ/27

2015-02-10

ITU-R Study Groups – Working Party 5D

Liaison Statement from ITU Radiocommunication Study Groups WP5D to ITU-D Study Groups concerning the Handbook on “Global Trends in IMT”

RGQ/21

2015-01-23

ITU-T FG DFS

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (DFS) to ITU-D Study Groups on BDT’s work on ITU m-Powering Development

RGQ/20

2015-01-22

ITU-T FG DFS

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Focus Group on Digital Financial Services (DFS) to ITU-D Study Groups concerning its work

1/18

2014-05-23

ITU-T JCA-AHF

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors (JCA-AHF) on Assistive Listening Devices (ALD) and the allocation of Mobile Phone Services in the 2.3-2.4 GHz band

1/16

2014-03-10

ITU-T Study Group 11

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Study Group 11 to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on Request for status update from GSMA and ITU on proposed studies on the issue of mobile theft, grey market and counterfeit devices

1/15
(Rev.1)

2014-03-10

ITU-T Study Group 11

Liaison Statement from ITU-T Study Group 11 to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on Technical report on counterfeit equipment

1/12

2014-02-10

ITU-T Focus Group on Innovation

Liaison Statement from the ITU-T FG on Innovation to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on New Standardization Activities for ITU-T study groups and ICT Innovation Panel

1/9

2013-10-22

ITU-T Focus Group on Innovation

Liaison Statement from the ITU-T FG on Innovation to ITU-D SG1 and SG2 on inputs on ICT innovation panel

Annex 2.1: Analysis of questionnaire replies to the global survey

1 Global survey on telecommunications / ICTs for rural and remote areas

1.1 Survey background

The overall aim of ITU‐D Study Group 1 Question 5/1 is to study the range and scope of techniques and solutions that are expected to play a significant role in the provision of e‐application services for rural and remote areas. In order for the Question to successfully complete its work for the 2014-2017 further input is needed from the ITU membership on techniques that can be used to best deliver the range of services, and applications required by rural and remote communities and adapted to the needs of their users.

1.2 Survey objectives

The purpose of this survey is to gather detailed information on Telecommunications/ICTs infrastructure in rural and remote areas, policy and regulatory measures that have been taken by the governments around the world and economic and business models for telecommunication/ICT growth in rural and remote areas. The survey also seeks to collect information on possible impact and analysis of such interventions/initiatives.

At the September 2015 meetings of ITU‐D Study Group 1, it was agreed to issue a circular to the Membership of ITU requesting input on specific aspects of access and connectivity in rural and remote areas. The requested input is related to the Rapporteur Group for Question 5/1 dedicated to “Telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas”.

All inputs and contributions received through this survey will be compiled as part of the outputs of Question 5/1 to assist countries in strengthening their capacity to address challenges related to access for people living in rural and remote areas.

1.3 Survey range

The Questionnaire was sent to Administrations of ITU Member States and Observer (Res. 99), ITU-D Sector Members, Associates and Academia, Management Teams for ITU-D Study Groups 1 and 2, and Observers (Regional and International Organizations).

Total of 46 entries from 45 countries were received.

1.4 Survey questions

Section 1: Contact information

a) Please select the name of your Administration/Organization from the list. (If it is not available, indicate the name in the field below the list)

__________________________________

b) Region where your organization is based:

□ Africa

□ Americas

□ Asia and Pacific

□ Arab States

□ CIS

□ Europe

c) Country where your organization is based:

d) Contact person:

__________________________________

e) Telephone number:

__________________________________

f) E-mail address:

__________________________________

Section 2: Questionnaire

1. Coverage and power supply for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

1.1 What is the coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio) of fixed communications in your country? (Please provide detailed data for rural and remote areas, if available)

Population coverage ratio %

Area coverage ratio %

Detailed data for rural and remote areas:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1.2 What is the coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio) of mobile communications in your country? (Please provide detailed data for rural and remote areas, if available)

Population coverage ratio %

Area coverage ratio %

Detailed data for rural and remote areas:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1.3a) What type(s) of power supplies are being used for the telecommunications/ICTs infrastructure in rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible. Please specify the output wattage if applicable)

□ Commercial power supply

□ Combination of commercial power and community grid

□ Community power grid

□ Oil generator

□ Battery

□ Solar cell

□ Wind power

□ Mini/Micro-hydro power

□ Others

b) If commercial power supply is used, please provide the hours of supply per day, in case not provided continuously: /24 hours per day

c) If the community power grid is used, please provide the total power of the grid:

d) If mini/micro-hydropower is used, please specify output wattage:

e) If you selected ‘Others’, please specify type of power supply used:

_____________________________________________________________________

2. National plans for telecommunications/ICTs

2.1 Is there a national telecommunication/ICTs/broadband plan targeted for the development of rural and remote areas?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please provide the link to the website (URL):

________________________________________________________________________

2.2a) What is the target download/upload speed of the access line in rural and remote areas?

Upload speed:

Download speed:

b) Is the target mentioned in the above cited national plan?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No

2.3 What is the target service coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio)?

Population coverage ratio %

Area coverage ratio %

3. National strategies for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

3.1a) In order to achieve the targets for rural and remote areas, what strategies are adopted? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Universal Service Fund (USF) scheme or equivalent

□ License conditions to roll out in rural and remote areas

□ Subsidy

□ Tax rebate

□ Public Private Partnership (Private operators with capital subsidy)

□ International aid

□ Other strategies

b) If Universal Service Fund (USF) is one of the strategies adopted, please specify the name of fund or equivalent:

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

c) Please specify the source of the USF: (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Collected from telecom service charge

□ Value added tax (VAT)

□ Import tax on telecom equipment

□ License fees

□ Spectrum fee

□ Royalty fee

□ Other.

If other, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

d) Who is in charge of management of USF?

e) If you selected License conditions, please specify the following: Is there a time frame? Are there specific areas mentioned? Are specific services to be covered by the USF?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

f) If you selected Subsidy, please specify the amount of subsidy: Is it a percentage of the total cost? One time subsidy for capital investment? Operational cost subsidy? Or both?

____________________________________________________________________

g) If you selected Tax exemptions, please specify the type(s) of tax exemptions given for rural and remote areas.

____________________________________________________________________

h) If you selected Other strategies, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

4. Technologies for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

4.1a) What backhaul/backbone technologies are used for connecting rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Satellite/V‎–‎SAT (GEO, MEO, LEO, L-band, C-band, Ku-band, Ka-band)

□ Optical fibre including OPGW (Optical fibre composite overhead ground wire)

□ Cable, including submarine cable

□ Terrestrial microwave

□ Wireless

□ Other technologies

b) If you selected Wireless, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

c) If you selected Other technologies, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

4.2 What access technologies are used for connecting rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ V-SAT

□ Copper

□ Cable

□ Optical fibre

□ Fixed wireless access

□ Wireless, such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, 2G, 3G, LTE

If you selected wireless, please specifythe type of technology:

____________________________________________________________________

4.3 What kinds of user terminals are used by residents in rural and remote areas of your country? Please specify:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

5. Business models for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

5.1 What kind of business model is being employed for the development of telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Public-Private Partnership model (Private operators with capital subsidy)

□ Multi-stakeholders partnership model

□ Incumbent operator with subsidy

□ Open competition

□ Other models

If you selected other models, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

6. Applications for telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas

6.1. Do you have a national policy for ICT in education for rural and remote areas?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please specify the elements taken into account in the policy:

____________________________________________________________________

6.2. Do you have national policies for other e-applications in rural and remote areas?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

7. Other policies for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

7.1. Do you have any specific policy for infrastructure sharing, especially for the rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Optical fibre cable sharing

□ Site sharing

□ Sharing of building

□ Sharing or towers

□ Other related support infrastructure

If you selected other related support infrastructure, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

7.2. Do you have any specific legal framework for infrastructure sharing, especially for the rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Optical fibre cable sharing

□ Site sharing

□ Sharing of building

□ Sharing or towers

□ Other related support infrastructure

If you selected other related support infrastructure, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

7.3. Do you have any specific regulatory framework for infrastructure sharing, especially for the rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

□ Optical fibre cable sharing

□ Site sharing

□ Sharing of building

□ Sharing or towers

□ Other related support infrastructure

If you selected other related support infrastructure, please specify:

____________________________________________________________________

7.4.a) Has your government and/or regulator put in place any other specific policy or regulatory intervention for the development of telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please provide examples of such interventions:

____________________________________________________________________

Rural ICT related Projects (telecentres; payphones; internet point of presence; white space project)

b) How successful has the other specific policy or regulatory intervention referred to in question above made by your government been in fostering the development of telecommunications or ICTs in rural and remote areas?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7.5. What are the problems or challenges encountered in the deployment of telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7.6. What are the guidelines that can be proposed to best deploy telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

8. Any other comments

Please provide any other comments you may wish to add regarding this survey and ways in which access to telecommunications/ICTs for people living in rural and remote areas can be improved:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

1.5 Survey results

0 Region where your organization is based:

Section 2:

2 Coverage and power supply for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

1.1 What is the coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio) of fixed communications in your country? (Please provide detailed data for rural and remote areas, if available)

Population coverage ratio %

Area coverage ratio %

Number of Answers to t population coverage ratio: 34(75.56%) Number of Answers to coverage ratio: 21 (46.67%)

Country

Population coverage ratio (%)

Area coverage ratio (%)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

12

45.9

Mexico

65

Denmark

97

Republic of Paraguay

5

Republic of Belarus

47.8

100

Federative Republic of Brazil

100

100

Mongolia

6.8

91

Lao P.D.R.

95

90

Islamic Republic of Iran

38.19

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

92

0

Japan

99

Confederation of Switzerland

99

Costa Rica

17.6

Central African Republic

1.2

0.02

Afghanistan

25

38

Federative Republic of Brazil

95

Malawi

25

1

Peru

7.6

Democratic Republic

of the Congo

0

0

Republic of Poland

85

74

Turkey

98

Trinidad and Tobago

86

0

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

90

75

Republic of Kenya

0.2

Spain

89

81

Turkey

97.98

97.98

State of Palestine

9.28

91

Republic of the Gambia

3.5

Republic of Panama

68

60

State of Israel

99

99

Costa Rica

16

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

34

27

Argentine Republic

80

90

Detailed data for rural and remote areas:

Number of Answers to this question: 21 (46.67%)

Country

Detailed data for rural and remote areas:

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Unofficial translation: There are no details on the level of fixed telephone coverage in rural and remote regions. Note: The level of regional coverage is related to the population spread.

Mexico

Unofficial translation: At the end of the second quarter of 2015, Mexico reached 21.1 million fixed telephone lines in the country, reaching a penetration of 67 fixed telephony lines per 100 households. On the other hand, in relation to fixed broadband, in the same period, 13.68 million fixed broadband subscriptions were reached, with fixed broadband reaching a penetration of 43 subscriptions per 100 households.

It is estimated that 65% of the population lives in localities that have at least one fiber optic network. This does not imply that there is a greater coverage of fixed telecommunications in the country through other technologies, but the coverage of fixed networks is not precisely known.

Denmark

We define rural areas as areas with a population density of less than 100 inhabitants per square km. As stated, 97% of the Danish households have broadband coverage through a fixed technology.

Republic of Belarus

Unofficial translation: Population coverage ratio 45.2 %.

Fedearative Republic of Brazil

1. The fixed telephony service obligation for rural areas or remote regions is by means of two instruments: (i) Presidential Decree No. 7,512 / 2011 (General Plan for Universal) and (ii) Regulation on the Provision Fixed Switched Telephone Service Targeted to the general public (PSTN) Outside the Basic Tariff Area (ATB) approved by Resolution No. 622 of 23 August 2013. Under the General Plan on Universal Service (PGMU), the dealers of Fixed Switched Telephone Service (STFC), must meet the localities (the concept requires 50 meters of adjacency between the houses) with more than 100 people with at least a Public Use Telephone (TUP) and the localities with over 300 inhabitants with individual care within 7 days. In addition, certain sites located in rural areas such as schools, indigenous communities, health centres and others, must have TUP, regardless of population profile. The Regulation deals with the care of the requests of rural areas and remote regions (out of ATB) – Resolution No. 622/2013, requires compliance by concessionaires of any demand of any citizen, regardless of the size of the locality, with specific plans that can be offered by means of any technology, including satellite. Such an offer has different values for the enjoyment of the service, for example, the responsibility of the applicant to bear the installation costs. The population covered with this option corresponds to about 1%, and the covered area of 51.5% 2. It is noteworthy that the fixed telephony service obligation is not oriented coverage area, since the concessionaire is obliged to meet any user request, regardless of their territorial location. 3. In addition to the obligations with exposed fixed up, was also established to service with internet obligation fixed for residents of areas within 30 kilometers from the boundaries of the headquarters of all Brazilian municipalities. Through bidding Notice No. 004/2012 / PVCP / SPV-ANATEL, the Agency established that the winners of the contest providers should meet the rural area of voice and data connections, starting with a speed of 256 Kbps in 2014 and increasing by 2017 to 1 Mbps. According to surveys conducted in 2012, the population covered by this option is 99%; geographical coverage is 48.5%. 4. The obligations mentioned in items 2 and 3 above are complementary and cover the entire national territory. For this reason it is considered that 100% of the territory and population have fixed telephony offer.

Mongolia

Only 36 soum (Microwave, VSAT) centre has no optic fibre connection from 330 soums.

Lao P.D.R.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Rural Population coverage ratio (%): 23.67.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Unofficial translation: The population covered by the fixed telephony service Cantv (the country’s main telecommunications operator, with a market share of 88%) in rural and remote areas is 10.88%.

Costa Rica

Unofficial translation: Percentages based on the total population of the country (the demographic distribution per zone is not considered).

Area coverage rate: Not available.

Population coverage rate: 17.6% (The percentage corresponds to the total fixed telephone subscription divided into the total population).

12.6% (Percentage of households with fixed telephony).

Central African Republic

Unofficial translation: The historical operator SOCATEL, which has the license to operate the fixed network in the Central African Republic, no longer operates in the provinces, and its installations have become obsolete in the towns and villages where they were installed. SOCATEL only operates its wired network in Bangui Capital.

Afghanistan

It will be communicated in future.

Federative Republic of Brazil

We estimate that at least 73% of the rural population live in areas where fixed telephony and broadband services should to be made available by operators as a result of imposed obligations of the spectrum auction held in 2012. (*) Notice that 85% is the portion of the population living in localities served by fixed telephony service provided by concessionaires. The 95% we have chosen to inform adds to that figure the portion of the rural population living in areas where fixed telephony and broadband services should to be made available by operators as a result of imposed obligations of the spectrum auction held in 2012 (the 73% of the rural population mentioned above). It is an estimate. Notice also that the coverage ratio can be said to be 100% since all Brazilian territory is covered by telecommunication services provided via satellite (telephony, broadband and subscription-based television services).

Malawi

Unofficial translation: No.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Unofficial translation: There are not fixed telephone lines in rural and remote areas.]

Trinidad and Tobago

The population coverage was calculated using data on the number of homes passed by fixed infrastructure divided by the population number. Data on area coverage is not available at this time.

Spain

Unofficial translation: Broadband with ADSL at 2 MBps covers 89% of the population. In rural areas it is 81%. Rural areas are those with a population density of less than 100 inhabitants per km2.

Sweden

Population coverage: approx. 300 households lack access to fixed broadband.

Republic of Nepal

NTA does not collect data based on both the criteria. However, the fixed line penetration in Nepal as of mid-September 2015 is just 3.19%. In terms of coverage, the PSTN lines are available only in urban and populated areas. Wireless fixed lines are however available in the rural and remote areas as NTA has introduced rural operators to provide telephone services in such rural areas.

Costa Rica

Unofficial translation: The value is average in rural areas of ICE [Costa Rica Institute of Electricity] fixed lines.

1.2 What is the coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio) of mobile communications in your country? (Please provide detailed data for rural and remote areas, if available)

– Population coverage ratio (%)

– Area coverage ratio (%)

– Number of Answers to Population coverage ratio (%): 38 (84.44%)

– Number of Answers to area coverage ratio (%): 28 (62.22%)

Country

Population coverage ratio (%)

Area coverage ratio (%)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

170.5

98

Mexico

92

Denmark

99

Republic of Paraguay

107

60

Republic of Belarus

99.9

98.1

Australia

99

30

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

138

99

Federative Republic of Brazil

91

19.6

Mongolia

118

98

Lao P.D.R.

96

80

Islamic Republic of Iran

94.22

Bolibarian Republic of Venezuela

97

11

Japan

Confederation of Switzerland

99

Costa Rica

150

Central African Republic

43

55

Afghanistan

90

93

Republic of Guinea

Federative Republic of Brazil

84

Malawi

100

100

Peru

63.5

51

Cuba

85.3

Democratic Republic of the Congo

50

20

Republic of Poland

99.9

Turkey

100

Republic of Korea

Republic of Cameroon

75

45

Trinidad and Tobago

148

100

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

99

84

Republic of Kenya

90

40

Spain

99.7

98.4

Republic of Sudan

84

41.5

Norway

Sweden

Turkey

98.46

85.8

Republic of Nepal

State of Palestine

98

90.5

Republic of the Gambia

Republic of Uganda

81

49

Republic of Panama

96

70

State of Israel

95

95

Costa Rica

150

Pakistan

64

68

Argentine Republic

90

95

Country

Detailed data for rural and remote areas:

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Unofficial translation: There are no details on the level of area coverage in rural and remote regions but the level of population coverage in rural and remote regions in accordance with the progress of universal service projects is 65% of the total population targeted by Universal Service Fund projects. However, the actual coverage is higher because operators provide coverage in rural and remote regions without the obligations of universal service.

Mexico

Unofficial translation: In the second quarter of 2015, the number of mobile subscriptions reached 103.4 million. In this regard, by the end of the second quarter of 2015 the teledensity of mobile telephony services was 85 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. On the other hand, mobile broadband subscriptions closed at 54.6 million. Thus, the mobile broadband teledensity was 45 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.

In rural and remote areas, coverage is usually through 2G technology, with an estimated population coverage of 92% in 2G technology. With 3G technology, coverage is estimated at 87% of the population. Finally, using 4G technology, it has an estimated coverage of 50% of the population.

Denmark

99%.

Republic of Belarus

Unofficial translation: No data available.

Australia

The three carriers publish public coverage information on their websites. (See www.telstra.com, www.optus.com.au and www.vodafone.com.au).

Federative Republic of Brazil

– The obligations currently set out in Brazil for mobile cover municipal offices only, and is considered served the municipality when 80% of the urban area of the district headquarters have coverage. Thus, all 5,570 municipalities already have mobile telephony, which represents 91% of the population.

– In relation to the rural and remote regions, a study conducted by georeferenced and data coverage prediction software of the Radio Base Stations (RBS), it was found that 18.7% of the geographical area using IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) parameters sectors rural census are covered by mobile telephony, covering 58.5% of the rural population.

Mongolia

Almost all centralized areas are covered with 2G mobile communication network. (3G 55%). Now we are focusing more on mobile broadband and nomadic herder’s connection.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Rural Population coverage ratio (%): 73.61.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Unofficial translation: Detailed information on the part of all mobile operators is not available for this purpose.

Costa Rica

Unofficial translation: Population coverage rate: 150% (This percentage corresponds to the total mobile subscriptions divided by the total population).
Area coverage rate: Not available.
Detailed data for rural and remote areas: Not available.

Central African Republic

Unofficial translation: The four established cellular operators also operate practically in all the major cities of the Central African Republic with a rural population coverage ratio of 10% and a rural geographical coverage of 20% only.

Afghanistan

Unconnected areas of rural and remote areas of country have been somewhat connected by VCN Project. Area Coverage ratio of rural and remote: 70% by VCN terminals. Population Coverage is: 25%. This VCN terminals are distributed in rural and remote areas of country where microwave installation/set up is impossible.

Brazil

71% of in rural areas.

Malawi

Unofficial translation: No.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Unofficial translation: Geographical coverage in rural and remote areas: 9.83%. Population coverage in rural and remote areas: 26.70%.

Republic of Poland

99.9/80* *3G networks and 4G/LTE networks, respectively (data for the operator with the highest coverage ratio).

Trinidad and Tobago

These results are calculated based on the number of subscribers and coverage maps provided by operators.

Spain

Unofficial translation: UMTS broadband with HSPA covers 99.7% of the population. In rural areas it is 98.4%. Rural areas are those with a population density of less than 100 inhabitants per km2.

Republic of Nepal

NTA does not collect data based on both the criteria. However, the mobile penetration in Nepal as of mid-September 2015 is 104.34%. In terms of coverage, the mobile signals are available in almost all the areas of Nepal. NTA has introduced rural operators to provide telephone services in such rural areas. They invariably have used GSM technology and hence contributed significantly in both the geographic and population coverage because of the cost factor compared to PSTN.

State of Palestine

The above data is provided based on latest JAWWAL measurement survey.

Republic of Panama

Unofficial translation: The Republic of Panama, through the Law 59 of August 11, 2008, (Ley 59 de 11 de Agosto de 2008) has the purpose of maintaining, promoting and guaranteeing Universal Service and Access to services originated with information technology and telecommunications, throughout the country in order to increase the quality and coverage of these services for citizens who, due to their geographical and/or economic limitations, do not have access to them.

Costa Rica

Unofficial translation: The value is an average penetration value adding up the 3 mobile operators.

1.3 a) What type(s) of power supplies are being used for the telecommunications/ICTs infrastructure in rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible. Please specify the output wattage if applicable)

Type of Power Supply

Number of Answers to this question: 39 (86.67%)

b) If commercial power supply is used, please provide the hours of supply per day, in case not provided continuously: ( /24 hours per day)

Number of Answers to this question: 17 (37.78%)

Country

Entity

Hours

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

8

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

16

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

20

Argentine Republic

Universidad Nacional de La Plata

23

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

24

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

24

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

24

Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

24

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

24

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

24

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

24

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

24

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

24

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

24

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

24

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

24

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

24

Mean : 22.29

Total: 379.00

c) If the community power grid is used, please provide the total power of the grid:

Number of Answers to this question: 3 (6.67%)

Country

Entity

Power of the grid

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

N/A

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

It varies from few KWs to few MWs.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

80%

d) mini/microhydro power is used, please specify output wattage:

Number of Answers to this question: 4 (8.89%)

Country

Entity

mini/microhydro power

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

40

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

N/A

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

mini: 100KW to 1000 KW; micro:10KW to 100KW

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

Taishir hydro power station 11MW, Durgun hydro power station

12MW

e) If you selected Others, please specify type of power supply used:

Number of Answers to this question: 4 (8.89%)

Country

Entity

Type of power supply used

State of

Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication

Company (Paltel Group)

In the West Bank the electricity from the grid is stable, While in Gaza the grid electricity is intermittent

and works on a scheduled of 8 hours per sectored area, so JAWWAL sites depend on Backup Battery

Systems and Diesel Generators.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

N/A

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Unofficial translation: The coverage of the electricity network is approximately 98% of the population, that is, greater than the coverage of telecommunications services. It is unknown the detail of the energy sources used in remote areas, but mostly it is through the network of the Federal Electricity.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: A portable generator.

2.0 National plans for telecommunications/ICTs

2.1 Is there a national telecommunication/ICTs/broadband plan targeted for the development of rural and remote areas?

2.2 a. Target download/upload speed of the access line in rural and remote areas? Upload speed (Mbps):

Number of Answers to this question: 22 (48.89%)

Speed

No of answers

0

1

0.128

1

0.256

1

0.512

2

0.768

1

1

4

1.2

1

2

4

3

1

5

1

25

1

30

1

50

1

2000

1

2048

1

Upload speed

Country

Entity

Answer

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

0

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

0.128

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

0.256

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

0.512

Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) (Republic of Nepal)

0.512

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

0.768

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

1

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies

1

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

1

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

1

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

1.2

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

2

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

2

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

2

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

2

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

3

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

5

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

25

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

30

Republic of Korea

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

50

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

2000

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

2048

Download speed

Country

Title

Answer

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

0

Confederation of Switzerland

Office Fédéral de la Communication (OFCOM)

0.2

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

0.256

Islamic Republic Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

0.5

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

0.512

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

0.512

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

1

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

1

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

1.325

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones

2

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

2

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

2

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

2

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

2

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

2

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

3

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

3

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

5

Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

5

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

12

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

20

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

25

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

25

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

25

Republic of Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

30

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad

30

Republic of Korea

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

50

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

100

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

512

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

512

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

2048

b) Is the target mentioned in the above cited in national plan

2.3 What is the target service coverage ratio (population coverage ratio and/or area coverage ratio)? Population coverage ratio (%)

Number of Answers to this question: 24 (53.33%)

Country

Title

Answer

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

80

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

80

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones

80

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

80

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

90

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

90

Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

90

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

90

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

91

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

92

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

95

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

97

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

98

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

99

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

99

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Viet Nam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA)

99

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

99

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

100

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

100

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

100

Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

100

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

100

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

100

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPEUCT)

100

Mean : 93.71

Total: 2,249.00

Area coverage ratio (%)

Number of Answers to this question: 15 (33.33%)

Country

Title

Answer

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPEUCT)

0

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

48.5

Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

50

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

75

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

80

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

80

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

80

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

80

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

90

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

95

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et Communication

95

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

95

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Viet Nam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA)

99

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

99

Republic of Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

100

Mean : 77.77

Total: 1’166.50

3. National strategies for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

3.1.a Strategies adopted to achieve the targets for rural and remote areas

Number of Answers to this question: 39 (86.67%)

c) Please specify the source of the USF:

Number of Answers to this question: 29 (64.44%)

If other source, please specify:

Number of Answers to this question: 13 (28.89%)

d) Who is in charge of management of USF?

Number of Answers to this question: 31 (68.89%)

Country

Title

Authority

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

None.

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Unofficial translation: The Regulator SUTEL.

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Unofficial translation: Advisory Board on Service and Universal Access (Junta Asesora de Servicio y Acceso Universal).

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

National communications Regulator.

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

N/A

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) the telecom regulator of Nepal.

Turkey

Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA)

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

CNMC.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones Transportes

Unofficial translation: The Ministry of Communications and Transport (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes). Resources from the Budget of Expenditures of the Federation.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

NTC.

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

Communications Authority of Kenya.

Trinidad and

Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of

Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

The Regulator – Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (Ministre des Postes et Télécommunications).

Republic of Paraguay

Comision Nacional De Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL

Unofficial translation: The Chairman of the Board of Directors of CONATEL.

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

Unofficial translation: Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus.

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste Rep. of the Congo

Unofficial translation: An independent Body under the administrative supervision of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and New Information and Communication Technologies (Administrative du Ministère de PT & NTIC) and the technical supervision of the Regulation Authority.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Telecommunication Investment Fund (FITEL).

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

The Regulator is proposed to manage.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

Revenue collection for the TIL is administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Fund management and overall responsibility, including payments made is the responsibility of the Department of Communications and the Arts.

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Viet Nam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA)

Ministry of Information and Communication.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) which functions under ICT Ministry of Afghanistan.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et Communication

Unofficial translation: Central African Republic’s Government.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología Telecomunicaciones

Unofficial translation: The Superintendence of Telecommunications (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones) administers the resources and elaborates the projects, under the public policy issued by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, Vice Ministry of Telecommunications.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA).

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

Office Fédéral de la Communication (OFCOM).

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

Unofficial translation: The National Commission of Telecommunications (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL), in compliance with Article 56 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications (Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones (LOTEL)).

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology

Organization of Iran

According to the guidelines, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission is responsible with the

ultimate authority to make decisions about vision, policy, quantitative and qualitative objectives, the adoption of action plans to achieve the goals and approve all regulations, instructions, rules and technical measures underway to create (implementation, execution, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and utilization) public service projects compulsory ICT (USO).

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

USOF, ITPTA.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: Communications and Information Technology Commission.

e) Please specify regarding License conditions: Is there a time frame? Are there specific areas mentioned? Are specific services to be covered by the USF?

Number of Answers to this question: 20 (44.44%)

Country

Title

Comments

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Yes there is a time frame. Island wide coverage in five years.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Yes, some licenses are given to provide telecom services in the rural and remote areas in terms of time based roll out plan. Specific areas are mentioned and specific minimum services such as voice telephony fixed are mentioned. However NTA has disbursed RTDF only once to provide VSAT based telephony services in rural and remote areas. Few Community centres were also funded by this fund.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

Unofficial translation: Requirements for 30 Mbps coverage linked to spectrum bids were made in 2011, in the 800 MHz band, with coverage objectives without mentioning specific areas, and outside the Universal Service.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones

Transportes

Unofficial translation: The Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law (Ley Federal de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión) established a single concession for social use, which confers the right to provide telecommunication and broadcasting services for cultural, scientific, educational or community purposes, not for profit. The community and indigenous concessions are within this category.

The concessions for indigenous social use may be granted to the indigenous peoples and communities of the country in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Institute and shall have as their purpose the promotion, development and preservation of their languages, their culture, their knowledge, promoting their traditions, Internal norms and principles that respect gender equality, allow the integration of indigenous women in the participation of the objectives for which the concession is requested and other elements that constitute indigenous cultures and identities.

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of

Kenya (CA)

Areas are selected based on CIT access gaps study to be covered during the license period.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

N/A

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

2% of authorization fee charged by ICT Regulatory Body for all types of electronic communications services. Following services are covered by USF: fixed telephone services, pay phone services, telephone directory services, emergency call services, internet services, marine communications and safety navigation services.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Deployment deadlines are set, specific zones are identified and specific services are covered in the ad hoc specification accompanying the License.

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Under the condition of development goals established in the licensing, service objectives are introduced corresponding to rural and distant areas.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes Comunicaciones

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Obligations are based on time lines; areas and services.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

N/A

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Viet Nam Telecommunications Authority (VNTA)

– Licenses for provision of commercial telecommunications services include:

• License for establishment of telecommunications networks which is valid for 15 years or less and granted to service providers with network infrastructure.

• License for provision of telecommunications services which is valid for 10 years or less and granted to service providers without network infrastructure.

– Licenses for telecommunications operations include:

• License for installation of undersea telecommunications cable lines which is valid for 25 years or less and granted to organizations that install undersea telecommunications cable lines ashore or across the internal waters, territorial seas, continental shelf or exclusive economic zones of Vietnam.

• License for establishment of exclusive‐use telecommunications networks which is valid for 10 years and granted to organizations that establish exclusive‐use telecommunications networks.

• License for testing of telecommunications networks and services which is valid for 1 year and granted organizations that test telecommunications networks and services.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

USF under name of Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF) is dedicated to expand Telecommunications/ICTs services in those unconnected areas of rural and remote terrain.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: The establishment of 05 Multipurpose Community Telecentres to be installed in five cities in the provinces and financed by the World Bank as part of the Fiber Optic Backbones Project (CAB Project).

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

USF under name of Telecommunications. Development Fund (TDF) subsidize projects to extend Telecommunications/ICT's services in rural and remote areas.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

Yes, there is time frame No area mentioned. Specific Service: Voice and Data

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authorit

Mongolian mobile operator G‐Mobile was created on that purpose. They use 450MHz Mobile services for nomadic herders.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

Regarding the stipulated time for the service provision to rural areas set out in terms of radio frequency use authorization was granted a timeline for network installation from 2014 to 2015, with capacity increase from 2017. Installation of requests service in areas served by the Provider network must be met no later than fifteen (15) business days of receiving the request, pursuant to art. No 574/2011 23 of the resolution approving the management regulations of the quality of the Multimedia Communication Service.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

Coverage requirements are set in frequency auctions. In the 2012 800 MHz auction a coverage requirement of 10 Mbps download was set for 207 postal codes.

f) If you selected Subsidy, please specify the amount of subsidy: Is it a percentage of the total cost? One time subsidy for capital investment? Operational cost subsidy? Or both?

Number of Answers to this question: 15 (33.33%)

Country

Title

Comments

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications (NTA)

The subsidy is % of the total cost and one time subsidy for capital investment. Operational cost in the community centres have also been provided for few years but not continuously

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

Unofficial translation: In 2015m, subsidies have been on investment, with a maximum of between 35 and 45% of the same, and with a budget of 63 Million €. (Further information can be found at:
www.minetur.gob.es/telecomunicaciones/banda‐ancha.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

One time subsidy which is a percentage of the total cost

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL

Unofficial translation: Subsidies range from 50% to 60% of the total cost of the project.

Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

Within Operational Programme Digital Poland (one of many financial instruments established to fulfil the targets of NBP), above 1 billion € is dedicated to increasing the total coverage of high‐speed broadband infrastructure to eventually reach 100 % of households. Although areas where subsidies can be granted are not limited to rural/or remote, current rules are that public funds may be allocated only on areas where commercial investments are economically inefficient (of which most are rural and remote).

The amount of one‐time capital investment subsidy is specified for each designated area, as a percentage of the total eligible cost of a model investment project covering the area. The value of subsidy can reach 80% of total eligible costs of a project located in mazovian voivodeship, and 85% in remaining voivodeships.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: There are both, but the amount of the subsidy is set freely by the Government.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: The scheme of subsidies includes financing of investment and operating costs maintenance.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

N/A

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

One time subsidy for capital investment.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Tax relief on rural telephony equipment at the entrance of the Central African Republic.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

On time subsidy for capital investment.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

One time subsidy for capital investment has been considered. Also discount as operational cost subsidy in rural area has been considered.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: One‐time subsidy.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

Subsidy was used in 2014 for roll‐out on a specific island and a new subsidy is being developed at the moment. Both are subsidies the roll‐out in areas without high speed coverage.

g) If you selected Tax exemptions, please specify the type(s) of tax exemptions given for rural and remote areas.

Number of Answers to this question: 10 (22.22%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Spectrum fees exemptions were given to telcos till the year when two lines telephones were not available in each of the village development committees.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

N/A

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Telecommunication Development Charge Fund (TDCF) tax rebate.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des

Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: The FSUT is exempt from all taxes, levies and charges.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

N/A

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications et des Nouvelles Technologies

Unofficial translation: Charged 3.5% of the Turnover of Telephony Operators in the CAR.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization

No.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

There is a special regime of taxation plan for construction of telecommunications but not special networks to rural areas.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

A tax rebate is available in 2016 and 2017 for establishing household broadband connections.

h) If you selected Other strategies, please specify:

Number of Answers to this question: 8 (17.78%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Subsidized license with cellular spectrum given to such telcos.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones Transportes

Unofficial translation: La Red Compartida – “The Shared Network”. This project aims to offer wholesale telecommunications services and increase the coverage of these services. The tender will be published in January 2016, and includes a minimum coverage of 85%. It is expected that as a result of the competitive process, the coverage offered by the participants will substantially increase. A model was developed which estimates that coverage superior to the 92% of the population is a possible result, in 4G technology.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

N/A

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri use Lanka

Joint investments with GSMA–mAgri challenge fund to explore services for rural agriculture.

Republic of Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

Other strategies include, yet to be introduced, significant reduction of local tax which is charged by local governments for placing broadband infrastructure in public lanes.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes Comunicaciones

‐

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

See response at 3.1.c. Funding for the USO is achieved by both government and industry‐based financing.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization

‐

4. Technologies for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

4.1 a) What backhaul/backbone technologies are used for connecting rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

Number of Answers to this question: 40 (88.89%)

b) If you selected Wireless, please specify the type of technology:

Number of Answers to this question: 15 (33.33%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

GSM

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Wi-Fi, WiMax

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Wi-Fi

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

(Microwave)

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

WiMax, GSM, UMTS, Wi‐Fi

Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka)

GSM, WCDMA, CDMA

Republic of Korea

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

Wireless backhaul

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

Mobile, Fixed Wireless Access

Republic of Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

3G, LTE, WiMAX

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

WI‐FI. 2G

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Wi‐Fi, WiMax, 2G, 3G

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et Communication

Faisceaux Hertziens, VSAT+ Faisceaux Hertziens.

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

WiMax, UMTS, GSM, LTE

Japan

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

Fixed wireless access

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

LTE/GSM

c) If you selected Other technologies, please specify type of other technologies:

Number of Answers to this question: 3 (6.67%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

N/A

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

Trial Authorisation for TV White Space Device.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Optical fibers in the framework of the World Bank Project Cab or the Optical Fiber Optical deployment project of the National Operator SOCATEL with China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC).

4.2 What access technologies are used for connecting rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

Number of Answers to this question: 40 (88.89%)

Please specify type of technology:

Number of Answers to this question: 26(57.78%)

Country

Entity

Comments

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

2G, 3G, LTE.

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Wi‐Fi, 2G, 3G.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

VSAT is used when there is no other option is available. mostly Wi-Fi and mobile technologies are used for access.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de T Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

LMDS, HSPDA, LTE.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Unofficial translation: Wi-Fi. Through the program México Conectado (Connected Mexico) connectivity to all public sites in the country (estimated to 250 thousand) will provided. Currently, connectivity is contracted in more than 101 thousand sites and public spaces. In the contracts of Mexico Connected does not specify the technology that the operators must use, reason why is not known the scheme used in each site. For remote rural sites, where there is no coverage of terrestrial operators, satellite technology is used.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation 2G (NTC)

Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad LTE and Tobago (TATT)

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

GSM (2G), EDGE, WCDMA (3G), HSPA, HSPA+, DC‐HSPA+, LTE, Wi‐Fi, Wi‐Max.

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

2G, 3G.

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones ‐ CONATEL

WIMAX, 2G, 3G, LTE.

Republic of Korea

Ministry of Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

Wireless technologies including wireless backhaul equipments (Wi-Fi) and microwave etc.

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

Wi‐Fi, WiMax, 2G, 3G.

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs Communications

2G, 3G, LTE, WiMAX.

Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

Wi‐Fi, WiMax, 2G, 3G, LTE.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

2G

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

WI‐FI. 2G.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Wi‐Fi, 2G.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information MIIT)

Unofficial translation: Wireless technologies including Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, and LTE.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

Wi‐Fi and 3G.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

Wi‐Fi, 2G, 3G, LTE.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

2G and 3G wherever possible. Those areas of rough where Microwave installation/set up is impossible, are getting connected through Satellite/V‐SAT which work in Ku‐band.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Wi‐Fi, WiMax, 2G, 3G et LTE.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones

2G, 3G.

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication

WiMax, UMTS, GSM, LTE.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

Wi‐Fi, 2G, 3G.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Commission (CITC)

2G, 3G.

4.3 What kinds of user terminals are used by residents in rural and remote areas of your country?

Number of Answers to this question: 31 (68.89%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Unofficial translation: Phones, CPE of the xDSL type, smart cell terminals.

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

Modem/ routers, analogue telephones, mobile handsets.

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Unofficial translation: Public Telephone devices, cellular telephones, Attentions through Infoplazas.

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

Mainly mobile phones. Computers are used in public facilities like cafes and in institutions.

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

POTS telephone sets and DSL routers.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Mobile set, laptop.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

Mobile.

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

Broadband Modems, Tablets, PC’s, Laptop & Mobile Phones etc.

Trinidad and

Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and

Tobago (TATT)

The projects have not yet been implemented therefore data is not available.

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Mobile Phones (Feature/smart), USB Dongles, Wi‐Fi Devices

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Fixed terminals in telecentres and mobile terminals in telecentres and for individual subscribers.

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones - CONATEL

Unofficial translation: Standard terminals, non-smart (feature phone) and smart terminals (smartphones).

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

Fixed telephone, fixed modem, mobile phone, cablemodem, VSAT terminal (used at schools in rural area) etc.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Mobile phone.

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Fixed telephone, fixed wireless telephone and mobile phone.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: As for mobile telephony, the most used terminals are those that support 2G technology.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Computers; smartphones; laptops.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

Unofficial translation: Feature phones, smart phones, personal computers, Tablet.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

Mobile phones, computers and tablets.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

A range of commercially available devices are used depending on the access technology.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

Mobile handset wherever 2G and 3G services are provided.

VCN Terminals wherever 2G and 3G services are not provided.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications,

chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: The usual telephone terminals, digital tablets and computers.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones)

Unofficial translation: Traditional landlines (not IP) and mobile phones, including smartphones.

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

Unofficial translation: Fixed and mobile terminals sold on the market.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología

Unofficial translation: Wired fixed telephoy: POTS; Mobile Telephony: 2G and 3G; wired data: módems ADSL/ADSL2+; Wireless Data (WiFi): CPEs; Smartphones, PDAs, Laptops; Wireless Data (2G/3G): CPEs, Smartphones, PDAs, Laptops; Satelital Data and Telephony: VSAT DVBS2/DVBRCS TV Satelital DTH: Set Top Box DVBS2/MPEG4; Open Digital Television: Set Top Box ISDBTb and TVs with integrated decoder ISDBTb.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

Laptop, Modem, Wi-Fi.

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

Mobile phone handsets, tablets, laptop, PC etc.

Fedearative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

We have no information about the terminal users.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: Mobile telephones and internet access devices (using a 3G network), similar to those used in urban areas.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

Same terminals as in the rest of the country.

5. Business models for telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas

5.1 What kind of business model is being employed for the development of telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

Number of Answers to this question: 38 (84.44%)

If you selected Other models, please specify:

Number of Answers to this question: 10 (22.22%)

6. Applications for telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas

6.1. Do you have a national policy for ICT in education for rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 33 (73.33%)

If yes, please specify the elements taken into account in the policy:

Number of Answers to this question: 22 (48.89%)

6.2. Do you have national policies for other eapplications in rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 32 (71.11%)

If Yes, please specify:

Number of Answers to this question: 15 (33.33%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

eLearning.

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Unofficial translation: Serve to social health.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

The National ICT Policy approved in 2015 has provisions of using ICTs for agriculture, health, education, tourism etc.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

www.red.es

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

This is a part of National Broadband Policy.

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

National EGovernment Strategy and Action Plan.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

National ICT Master Plan.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

Unofficial translation: in 2015 the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting Rural to accelerate the development of eCommerce”, focusing on the development of rural eCommerce.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

It will be furnished as soon as possible.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Creation of community telecentres and rural digital animations.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

It will be provided in near future.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología

Unofficial translation: Ensure the promotion of training and transfer of knowledge that allows the development of electronic equipment and computer applications in open technologies and open standards. (Objective 1.5.3.1 of the National Plan for Economic and Social Development (PDESN) 2013-2019). Ensure the democratization and ownership of citizens’ knowledge in electronic equipment and computer applications in free technologies through educational programs in universities, technical, media and occupational centers. (Objective 1.5.3.2 of the National Plan for Economic and Social Development (PDESN) 2013-2019).

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

A strategic plan has been considered for the development of communications in rural areas; in which there is a pilot for electronic applications that should be continued to exploit in national level.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: Yes, the creation of platforms to provide eGovernment services in villages and remote regions.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

http://www.digst.dk/digitaliseringsstrategi.

7.1. Do you have any specific policy for infrastructure sharing, especially for the rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

Number of Answers to this question: 28 (62.22%)

If you selected other, please specify:

Number of Answers to this question: 11 (24.44%)

7.3. Do you have any specific regulatory framework for infrastructure sharing, especially for the rural and remote areas? (Multiple choices are possible)

Number of Answers to this question: 26 (57.78%)

If Other, please specify :

Number of Answers to this question: 11 (24.44%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Unofficial translation: Observation: Our existing Legal Framework (AN No. 2848 Telco) establishes infrastructure-sharing policies at the national level, including rural and remote areas. Therefore it is mandatory to make any type of sharing, as long as there is availability of it.]

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA

No specific regulatory framework for rural and remote areas.

Turkey

Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA)

Our regulatory framework includes all the areas (rural,remote).

Facility Sharing Procedures and Principles, April 12, 2013, Türk Telekom Reference Facility Sharing and Dark Fibre Offer June 17, 2014 http://www.btk.gov.tr/trTR/Sayfalar/TesisPaylasimiDuzenlemesi

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

Infrastructure or Networks of The Infrastructure in/on Premises.
Bylaw on the Passing Any Kinds of Cables and Similar Material Used in Fixed and Mobile Telecommunication.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulations Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Available in draft.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

Unofficial translation: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the annual “to promote the implementation of the views of telecommunications infrastructure sharing” and to strengthen the sharing of resources, reduce duplication, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the telecommunications industry.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

Arrangements enable carriers to apply to the regulator (the ACCC) to acquire access to facilities and services generally, subject to specified criteria.

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

Unofficial translation: Use of cable ducts. It should be noted that the use of facilities is a measure which concerns the entire territory and not only rural or isolated areas. Moreover, this use is only possible in special circumstances (requirements linked to spatial planning, protection of the environment and heritage, etc.) and provided that the capacity is sufficient.

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

We have a regulation document on infrastructure sharing. Also we planned to use RAN sharing on rural areas LTE network.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

The legal instrument that must network capacity sharing is the Notice No. 004/2012 / PVCP / SPVANATEL.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: Copper cables.

7.4. a Has your government and/or regulator put in place any other specific policy or regulatory intervention for the development of telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 31 (68.89%)

If yes, please provide examples of such interventions:

Number of Answers to this question: 23 (51.11%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Lao P.D.R.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)

3 building strategic plans, building province to be strategic unit, building district to be strength unit, and building village to be developing unit.

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

ADSL deployment program from 2003 Completing deployment program for Hot Telecom from 2014.

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

National Backbone Infrastructure.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

Introduction of rural areas specific licenses on least cost subsidy basis.

Introduction of specific license starting roll out from rural and remote areas.

Provisioning of cellular spectrum.

Spectrum fees exemptions for a specified number of years.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

Unofficial translation: Plan of Telecommunications (Plan de Telecomunicaciones y Redes Ultrarápidas) and Ultra-fast Networks and Digital Inclusion and Employability Plan (Plan de inclusión Digital y Empleabilidad).

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Unofficial translation: Shared Network. Connected Mexico (Mexico Conectado) provides connectivity to approximately 30,000 sites and public spaces in remote areas through satellite technology. In many of these sites, there is free public connectivity through Wi-Fi. In addition, the Shared Network is being developed, which will increase the coverage of mobile services in Mexico, mainly in rural areas.

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

Proposal for spectrum fee waiver for operators willing to provide service in selected rural areas.

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Implementation of passive infrastructures to facilitate the deployment of active equipment of operators in certain isolated areas.

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL

Unofficial translation: The Regulator has set reduced tariffs for certain rural projects.

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization (f Belarus)

Unofficial translation: State Programme for sustainable development of rural areas 20112015.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Grant licenses for rural telephony.

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Development goals: Mandatory dial-up access in all communities with more than 200 inhabitants.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Policy oriented to the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure and services in rural areas through the formulation.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Rural ICT related Projects (telecentres; payphones; internet point of presence; white space project).

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) requires universal service providers to ensure standard telephone services are reasonably available to all people in Australia on an equitable basis. USO costs are borne partly by the Government and partly by industry under the Telecommunications Industry Levy (TIL).

The National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide better broadband services to rural and remote Australia. In the cities and large towns the NBN will be delivered over a fixed network; in smaller towns and villages, and areas surrounding them, homes will be served by fixed wireless; and beyond those areas, extending all across regional and remote Australia, the NBN will be delivered over satellite.

The Mobile Black Spot Programme invests in telecommunications infrastructure to address mobile black spots in regional and remote Australia. Under round 1 of the programme, 499 new or upgraded mobile base stations will be deployed across the country. The Australian Government committed $100 million to round 1, with additional funding leveraged from mobile service providers and other levels of government.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

VCN Project (A government owned project) already implemented has been distributing VCN terminals for rural and remote residents what currently offer voice services. The project has been successfully implemented/supported by the government.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Creation of the Telecentres in the city of Kaga Bandoro by a decree.

In addition, implementation of the “Multi-purpose Community Telecentres” project in 5 towns of provinces within the framework of the World Bank’s CAB Project.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones

Unofficial translation: The Regulations on the Shared Use of Infrastructure for Internal Telecommunications Networks and Support of Public Telecommunications Networks are in the process of being prepared by the Regulator. On the other hand, the National Institute of Rural Development (Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Rural -INDER) is developing a regulation to grant it on the boarder.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

ATRA TDF Fund subsidize projects and sites in rural and remote areas.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología

Unofficial translation: Regulation of the Organic Law of Telecommunications on Universal Service (Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones sobre el Servicio Universal); Partial Regulation of the Organic Law of Telecommunications for the Granting of Financing to Research and Development of Telecommunications (Reglamento Parcial de la Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones para el Otorgamiento de Financiamiento a la Investigación y Desarrollo de las Telecomunicaciones); Law National Economic Development Plan of the Nation 2013-2019 (Ley Plan de Desarrollo EconómicoSocial de La Nación 20132019).

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

According to the agreements with USO contractors, monitoring and test should be done to provide standard services.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

Through Notice bidding of 450 MHz of radio frequency subband, ANATEL forced the winning providers of the event for the years 2014 and 2015 to connect all public schools located in rural areas, up to 30 km radius of the seats municipal, with internet service, free of charge, in accordance with item 5 of Annex IIB of the notice.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: Yes, the Universal Service Fund.

7.4.b How successful has the other specific policy or regulatory intervention referred to in question above made by your government been in fostering the development of telecommunications or ICTs in rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 24 (53.33%)

7.5 What are the problems or challenges encountered in the deployment of telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 37 (82.22%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Lao P.D.R.

Telecommunications (MPT)

Expanse infrastructure will mainly base on the focus zone on developing potentially growth.

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

Access to rural areas and high deployment cost.

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Unofficial translation: The copper cable is stolen in some areas.

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

High cost for service providers and reluctance on their part, very low ROT.

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Unofficial translation: Lack of electricity infrastructures, little development of road systems and aqueducts. On the other hand, the geographical composition of mountain ranges and little accessibility for the population growth.

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

Cost and reach of power, infrastructure security.

State of Palestine

Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

From the point view of JAWWAL, the main obstacles can be summarized in the following points:

‒ Difficulty in deploying JAWWAL infrastructure in C Areas.

‒ Logistic problems facing us when importing our Equipment’s with Israeli customs.

‒ Interference on available spectrum by Israeli operators.

‒ Lack of spectrum to deploy mobile broadband services.

‒ Unavailability of 3 / 4 G licenses.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

‒ Power accessibility by roads and other transportation mechanisms.

‒ Maintenance.

‒ Affordability.

‒ Capital cost too high to make any business sense.

‒ Too low number of users to make money as the households are scattered.

‒ Low literacy.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

Unofficial translation: Lack of commercial interest of the operators due to the high costs.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Unofficial translation: The lack of infrastructure in remote areas, derived from low levels of investment by operators, has limited the supply of telecommunications services. Citizens’ low levels of income in rural and remote areas prevents the economic attractiveness for the provision of services by the market.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

All problems related to Security Situation in those regions.

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) (Republic of Kenya)

Harsh, terrain, sparse population, lack of power and insecurity in some areas.

Trinidad and Tobago

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)

The projects have not yet been implemented. Therefore, data is not available.

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Spectrum limitation, Low return on investment for operators, Cost of customer service provision, Requirement for local language communication and services, lack of awareness, low usage of smart devices, Under developed Infrastructure (access roads, commercial power).

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Unavailability of a reliable source of energy and the high cost of infrastructure.

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL

Unofficial translation: Operators have stated the high operating costs and the low profitability in short/medium-term.

Republic of Korea

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

Conflict of interests between demanding on national universal services in wired/wireless communication networks over all the regions and commercial services by operators.

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime

Affairs and Communications

Sharing problems between the operators.

Financing Problems.

Republic of Poland

Ministry of Digital Affairs

Due to low/or very low level of population density over rural and remote areas, it is challenging to make the basic economical requirements of supply to meet the demand. It concerns more the supply than the demand, as the supply depends on acceptable rate of investment return, which in turn, depends on operational costs, the total number of expected subscribers and the average service charge. Thus, it is essential to provide an investment-friendly legal environment and to boost the demand through various promotional and educational activities.

Democratic Republic of

the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la

Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Accessibility and transport.

Access to the electricity and high exploitation costs.

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Economic difficulties.

Peru

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Budgetary restrictions.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Electricity; poor road network and illiteracy.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)

Unofficial translation: The Chinese relatively weak economic foundation in the rural and remote areas, the complicated geographical environment with population living in scattered areas, telecom operators investing in those areas to construct broadband network experience, high costs. However, the benefits are relatively low, and thus there are different degrees of market failure.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

The Australian Government established a Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee every three years to conduct a review into telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. The recent Regional Telecommunications Review report, released in October 2015, found that:

For mobile telecommunications, the low population density over the remaining geography means that new approaches are needed to assess the priorities of those in the 70 per cent of Australia’s land mass that has no mobile coverage, and to improve poor coverage elsewhere. These geographies are economically challenging for the extension of existing high speed mobile networks.

The USO, providing a standard telephone service, is of declining relevance because, within the next few years, the majority of consumers, and notably those in regional Australia, will not be using voice calls over the existing copper network, but will be using mobiles, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other social media applications, as their primary communication method.

Maximising the rollout of the NBN for rural communities, including managing the demand for services provided via satellite, given issues relating to capacity, reliability and latency.

Afghanistan

Ministry of Communications and IT

Security Obstacles.

Rough Geographical terrains.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Costly electrical energy; access and transport to difficult sites; lack of qualified personnel for maintenance of the equipment and very high operating cost.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Despite the signing of agreements with local governments, there have been obstacles related to the granting of construction licenses by the municipal authorities. In addition, legal loopholes have been found for the granting of environmental permits (environmental sworn declarations), especially cases of properties that are in precarious possession or that are in the process of land titling (possessory information), in coastal areas, border areas or wild areas Protected national parks. There have also been challenges related to the difficulty of accessing communities.

Confederation of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

Unofficial translation: In Switzerland, investments in telecommunications infrastructure are high and result in genuine competition between infrastructures. Thanks to its prosperity, Switzerland therefore enjoys a very good situation and the coverage rates displayed by several technologies are high. The main problem with network deployment is that the last few percent of users to connect, especially by wire, are those for whom it costs the most. Consequently, it is not feasible at this time to require a minimum data transmission rate which is too high in the context of the universal service. Currently, the authorities plan to increase this throughput to 3,000 kbit/s.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología (MPPEUCT)

Unofficial translation: There have been problems such as:

‒ Geographical (distances, relief, soil);

‒ Economic (investment financing);

‒ Accessibility (availability of adequate road);

‒ Lack of basic services networks (electricity, water);

‒ Environmental (restrictions in protected areas);

‒ Legal (building permits).

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

The main problems caused by the specific geographical conditions of rural areas, their population distribution and cultural problems of the people in the developing services.

Mongolia

Information Technology, Post and Telecommunications Authority

In our country we encountered multiple issues on rural broadband network. Mongolian IT infrastructure is built on various high speed and nationwide networks. However, its uses lack in certain areas especially remote and small towns. Slow speed of network and lack of applications play in the role along with downside of IT usage. The Mongolian government state owned company, which is dominant on broadband network, is influenced competition on broadband network.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

Brazil has continental dimensions and presents significant regional contrasts with regard to income and the availability of infrastructure. In this sense, the first major challenge is the installation of terrestrial networks in remote and difficult to access, such as the areas in the northern region of the country, due to topography and the existence of large forest areas. Another challenge is the socioeconomic conditions of the share of the population living in rural and remote areas that many times can not hire the services or fails to maintain payment plans. Moreover, with the expiration of the deadline for the fulfilment of the first range of commitments made to the rural area at the end of 2015, it will be possible to follow developments in the provision of services and identify improvements to be made to expand service and improve the provision of conditions. Finally, in parallel, Brazil also works hard to expand its backbone and backhaul networks to improve the delivery of services (quality and expansion) further to the municipal headquarters. When this barrier is completely overcome, especially with the arrival of fibre optic and mobile data in all Brazilian municipal centres, the expansion to rural areas can be accelerated with a view to the expansion of high speed at the headquarters network, starting from the call results performed between 2012 and 2016.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: The difficulty of providing up-to-date and accurate information on concentrations of population in rural and remote areas; the geographical nature of rural and remote areas; and the distance between concentrations of population their low density.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

Lack of commercial business case for rollout.

7.6. What are the guidelines that can be proposed to best deploy telecommunications/ ICTs in rural and remote areas?

Number of Answers to this question: 32 (71.11%)

Country

Entity

Comments

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Ministry of Information Technology

Lowering deployment costs.

Costa Rica

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Unofficial translation: Bring optical solutions to the villages and also to use LTE in bands low to 1 GHz, to have possibilities of wide broadband in rural and distant areas.

State of Israel

Ministry of Communications

Guidelines regulations published as a part of an advisory committe work.

http://www.moc.gov.il/sip_storage/FILES/0/4310.pdf.

Republic of Panama

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP)

Unofficial translation: Creation of laws that encourage greater growth and development of infrastructure works. Look for sources of less expensive financing that serve as stimuli, among others.

Republic of Uganda

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)

Shared facilities among operators, low cost technologies and communal access.

State of

Palestine

Palestine

Telecommunication Company (Paltel Group)

From the point view of JAWWAL, the following are needed:

Guarantee more spectrum for mobile services.

Unavailability of 3 / 4 G licenses.

Smoothen Equipment import operation logistics.

Guarantee Mobile towers deployment in Area C.

Republic of Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA)

The telecommunications and ICTs should be considered as essential services and should be made a part of all other government services. The USF scope has to be expanded to include all areas of digital divide at lease starting from the rural and remote areas the funding should not be limited to capital expenditure but also to include operational costs in bridging the digital divide telecommunications and ICTs should be integrated into Sustainable Development Goals and fully owned by the Government.

Spain

Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información y la Agenda Digital

Unofficial translation: Competitive public aid.

Mexico

Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Unofficial translation: In the case of Mexico, infrastructure sharing is considered a suitable strategy to promote the increase of coverage in remote areas. There are three ways:

1) By means of the regulation imposed by the Federal Institute of Telecommunications to the economic agent.

Forcing it to share its infrastructure.

2) Through the Shared Network, for mobile telecommunications services.

3) Through the Trunk Network project, which will use the existing optical fiber in the Federal

Electricity to provide fixed telecommunications services in a wholesale manner.

Republic of Sudan

National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)

Financially support the operators for covering those areas (CAPEX or Opex).

Republic of Kenya

Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)

The government to develop the infrastructure for sharing but lease it to private operators to manage.

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

‒ Incentives to be granted for sharing costs of services roll out.

‒ Operators to be separately allocated different rural areas to develop (to avoid duplicate costs).

‒ Operators be mandated to construct a communication tower in identifies rural areas and cost will be shared by operators.

‒ Revision of broadband prices.

‒ Improve the popularity of smartphones in rural areas, by enabling easy payment schemes for purchases, creating awareness on the benefits of smart phones etc.

‒ Programs to improve ICT literacy in rural areas.

‒ Fast infrastructure developments in rural areas.

Republic of Cameroon

Ministère des Postes et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: Ensure availability and sustainability of electric power train people to support users in the rural world plan for a breakdown device to have a preferential tariff policy.

Republic of Paraguay

Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones – CONATEL

Unofficial translation: Tax incentives should be established and subsidies should be awarded according to the projects.

Republic of Belarus

Ministry of Communications and Informatization

Turkey

Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications

Studies to form the National Broadband Strategy have started.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Autorité de Régulation de la Poste et des Télécommunications

Unofficial translation: ICTs should be considered as a cross-sectoral sector for the development of other sectors, and therefore they need to be integrated into the formulation of national policies and strategies in other sectors (energy, transport, education, agriculture, environment, health, etc.).

Cuba

Ministerio de Comunicaciones

Unofficial translation: Development goals for the operator.

Malawi

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

Deploy specific technologies to rural rather than the universality approach. Deploy low cost technologies. Involve the rural communities in the deployment.

People’s Republic of China

Ministry of Industry andInformation Technology (MIIT)

Unofficial translation: The central government to increase investment, to guide local policy and strengthen financial support to encourage the stateowned telecommunications companies, broadcasters and private capital through competitive bidding and equitable participation in the construction of rural broadband operation and maintenance, while exploring PPP, entrust operators and other marketbased approach to mobilize all class body active participation, to fully achieve the 2020 target rural broadband strategy target.

Federative Republic of Brazil

Ministério das Comunicações

‒ To reduce taxes on broadband equipment, services and infrastructure deployment geared to rural areas in order to mitigate the enduser cost differential in relation to urban areas.

‒ To encourage (not only through tax reductions, but also by direct subsidy and regulatory measures) satellite broadband provision in the Kaband and wireless broadband provision in the 450 MHz band, which are able to offer highspeed downloading and are less expensive than alternative technologies.

Australia

Department of Communications and the Arts

Australia emphasizes the commercial and competitive provision of telecommunications to the greatest extent possible. Where Government intervention is warranted it considers this should be done on a transparent and completely neutral basis. Australian telecommunications legislation provides telecommunications carriers with powers and immunities to enter land (including buildings) for inspection, and to maintain and install certain types of facilities. It also provides certain immunities, including from a range of State and Territory laws (such as laws relating to land use, planning, design, construction, siting, tenancy, environmental assessments and protection). The powers and immunities regime supports the fast and efficient rollout of infrastructure by allowing it to be done nationally, including in rural and remote areas, under a uniform streamlined process, rather than the requirements of multiple jurisdictions. This helps carriers meet consumer demand for services while reducing the administrative burden on carriers and various tiers of government. Australian telecommunications legislation encourages mobile telecommunications providers to colocate of mobile telecommunications facilities, where it is feasible to do so. Guidelines encouraging or requiring the colocation of telecommunications facilities can assist carriers to rollout and upgrade facilities in rural and remote areas at a lower cost than carriers installing their own standalone facilities.

Afghanistan

Ministry of

Communications and IT

‒ Ensuring security in rural and remote areas the same as ensured in urban citizens can help deploy.
Telecommunications/ICTs in rural and remote areas easily.

‒ Expansion of transportation systems in rural and remote areas to ease transportation of vehicles.

‒ Investment encouragements in rural and remote areas is preferred.

Central African Republic

Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications, chargé des Nouvelles Technologies d’Information et de Communication

Unofficial translation: Subsidizing rural ICT operators to expand their reach in rural areas.

Costa Rica

Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Rica

Unofficial translation: The feasibility of making legal modifications to the Construction Law, Condominium Property Regulatory Law, and the Law for the Strengthening and Modernization of Telecommunications Institutions (Public costs of the telecommunications sector) has been analyzed.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

‒ Ensuring security in rural and remote areas the same as ensured in urban citizens can help deploy Telecom/ICT’s services in rural and remote areas.

‒ Provision in transportation facilities for vehicles in rural and remote areas.

‒ Investment encouragement in rural and remote areas.

Confedera-
tion of Switzerland

Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM)

Unofficial translation: No suggestions.

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología

Unofficial translation:

‒ Create programs aimed at developing ICTs in rural areas, such as a development policy whose aim is to ensure that the greatest possible number of citizens in remote areas have access to ICTs and promote inclusive development through affordable access to technologies.

‒ Establish a commission for the follow-up of ICT Development in Venezuela, focused on rural areas.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Information Technology Organization of Iran

Resolution no. 156 in Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (IRAN)

Federative Republic of Brazil

Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações – ANATEL

Public policies for the development of rural areas should be guided from the perspective of expansion of terrestrial networks focusing on quality of services offered, sharing of infrastructure by service providers, public incentives to reduce the values of access by the end user and better procurement conditions of equipment or smartphones

Kingdom of SaudiArabia

Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC)

Unofficial translation: We believe that principles differ with different markets, in terms of the regulatory aspects and the needs and locations of users. However, it may be said that the sharing of infrastructure, site partnership, national roaming and introduction of competition in universal service projects might result in the more complete spread of telecommunications in rural and remote areas.

Denmark

Danish Energy Agency

Promoting demand for digital infrastructure through digitization e.g. of public services. Ensuring use of wide range of technologies. Encouraging local demand aggregation to improve business plan for rollout.

8. Any other comments

Please provide any other comments you may wish to add regarding this survey and ways in which access to telecommunications/ICTs for people living in rural and remote areas can be improved:

Number of Answers to this question: 24 (53.33%).

Annex 2.2: Analysis of questionnaire replies to the global survey – Presentation

Annex 3.1: Measuring the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD)

1 Introduction

The urban-rural digital divide is the main digital divide most commonly referred to (besides the international digital divide). It is now a major issue in many countries and regions around the world, including Europe and the United States. Solving the urban-rural digital divide has been identified as the main way of bringing more people online. It provides an overview of why it arises, and the various measurement methods to date.

There is by now a considerable body of literature describing the urban/rural digital divide. Much of the literature concerned with urban/rural provision has been developed with a view to justifying the introduction of competition, private sector provision of telecoms, local loop unbundling and/or the success (or otherwise) of Universal Service Funds.

2 The Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD)

2.1 Defining the Urban-Rural Digital Divide

The digital divide is defined as “inequality in deployment, access to, and use of, ICTs” (Information and Communication Technologies), but there are many different aspects to this term. The urban-rural digital divide is in fact one of the main ‘digital divides’ most commonly referred to, which may also include divides in access to ICTs by:

– By level – regional or national digital divides, versus the international digital divide.

– By community or grouping – socio-economic group, language community, poor versus rich, etc.

– The gender digital divide: male versus female in ex ante access to ICTs (% of total men/women online) or ex post Internet access (among those who have made it online).

– By geography/space – urban versus rural; by district or country; mountainous regions versus plains. This also includes finer levels of spatial analysis (e.g. local loop length, distance from an exchange, or the tendency for investment to upgrade existing connections, rather than connect entirely ‘new’ areas). Addressing the urban/rural digital divide is often a major objective of the Universal Service Fund, where this exists.

– Over time – the evolution of the digital divide over time.

The richest body of research to date for the Internet derives from the US, due to its longstanding concern with universal service of telecommunications and early mover advantages in the Internet; however, a growing body of data and work is now available for OECD countries and a range of developing countries.

The task of defining rural/urban settlements has always been challenging[137], due to national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas. UN Habitat and the international community tried to standardize definitions of urban/rural areas in 2003; however, these attempts proved rather difficult, as there is no international standard definition of what constitutes a rural area or village.[138] In the event, National Statistical Offices (NSOs) usually define the administrative areas or district for use in national Census surveys, which may usually follow the hierarchy village –> town –> city (and agglomeration) –> Municipality or province (or close equivalent). International statistics are then based on the NSO definitions.[139]

Definitions of urban/rural areas differ, according to:

– Population density: The European Investment Bank defines urban as >500 inhabitants/km2; semi-urban as 500 <-> 100 inhabitants/km2 and rural as <100 inhabitants/km2. In the E.U., ‘rural’ is not defined by the size of localities, but by population density.[140] Eurostat uses the categories ‘urban’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘rural’.[141]

– Population concentration: Once areas have been classified as low, medium or high population density, the distribution and concentration of population between these areas is another variable that comes in on top. For Europe, for example, only 2.1 per cent of Belgium’s population lives in rural areas outside the main conurbation, whereas the proportion of rural population for Ireland was considerably higher at 37% in 2014.

– Absolute town size: The U.S. Census distinguishes between ‘metropolitan’, ‘non-metropolitan urban’ or ‘non-metropolitan rural’ areas. Wood (2007) identifies “metropolitan” areas in Pennsylvania as the state’s largest cities (minimum population of 50,000) and their suburbs..[142] ‘Non-metropolitan urban areas’ are urban areas with populations ranging from 5-15,000, often serving as places of employment for people in outlying rural areas. ‘Non-metropolitan rural areas’ comprise small towns (with populations of <1,000) or low population density areas outside major towns or areas without a central location.

– Administrative districts: Countries may be divided into administrative districts or municipalities, which may then be classified more or less scientifically as urban or rural, depending on population density, broad characteristics or other criteria.

The UN Statistics Division (UNSD) collects country-by-country population data from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) since 1948, through its Demographic Yearbook system. UNSD publishes an annual Demographic Yearbook, providing the latest available statistics on population size and composition. UNSD also provides data on the population of capital cities and cities of 100 000 and more inhabitants each year. In this database, the population data are given for the city proper and for the urban agglomeration, including the suburban fringe adjacent to the city boundaries.

The UN Population Division uses UNSD data as the basis for preparing demographic estimates, standardized time series starting from 1950, with projections to 2100 for total population, urban population and rural population for all countries and areas of the world. The results are published annually in World Population Prospects, which serves as the standard and consistent set of population figures for use throughout the United Nations system (available online, 2015 edition is the latest edition). The UN Population Division also publishes a biennial report, World Urbanization Prospects, which presents summary tables by country and region and also reports the sources of data and the definition of urban and rural when available, for each country (2014 is the latest available edition).

The US Census Bureau also maintains an international database IPC as a computerized source of demographic and socio-economic statistics for nearly 230 countries and areas of the world. The IDB combines data from country sources (especially censuses and surveys) with IPC's estimates and projections to provide information dating back as far as 1950 and as far ahead as 2050. Because the IDB is maintained at IPC as a research tool in response to the requirements of its sponsors, the amount of information available for each country may vary.

There are few hard and fast conclusions, in part due to the changing focus of research with the Internet adoption curve over time (Figure 1A). Early studies (broadly until around 2010) focus more generally on broadband access, while more recent studies tend to focus on the impact of broadband speeds.

Figure 1A: Shifting focus on different aspects of the digital divide with the internet adoption curve

Source: ITU. Stage 1: Presence/absence of coverage. Stage 2: 3G versus 4G and investment upgrades to existing connectivity - http://www.infrastructure-complexity.com/content/2/1/6 Stage 3: For example, a provider may offer only a relatively slow speed or may provide only residential but not business-class broadband packages, while some providers may also set thresholds or limits on monthly data transfer amounts.

The rural/urban digital divide is manifest in various different aspects, which are explained in Table 1A. Urban areas may benefit from greater availability of Internet, but also better Quality of Service (QoS) or Quality of Experience (QoE), more effective demand, higher incomes, lower costs of Internet access, better training and support, more ‘knowledge-intensive’ professions and greater consumer choice.

Table 1A: Different aspects to the Urban/Rural Digital Divide

Urban Areas

Rural Areas

Internet penetration

Higher penetration rates by households and individuals

Generally lower penetration by households and individuals

Purchasing power & cost of Internet access re income

Incomes tend to be higher

Incomes tend to be lower, so ICT costs are relatively higher for low-income groups.

Quality of experience

Urban households may be closer to the exchange and benefit from higher bandwidth & better QoE.

Lower bandwidth available, as well as less reliable service & lower QoE.

Effective Demand

Workers are more likely to have occupations where computers and the Internet are part of their work environment. Citizens may be more informed of their rights to Internet access through other media, or receive training.

Rural areas may benefit from rural livelihoods e.g. farming and agriculture, where ICT may not necessarily form part of the work environment. Training or maintenance centres may be distant or less accessible.

Consumer choice

Consumers in urban areas may benefit from a choice of alternative operators.

Consumers in rural areas may be restricted to a single provider (or limited choice).

Source: ITU.

The literature divides according to whether observers see the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD) as a result of underlying patterns of socio-economic activity, or as a driver of this activity (similar to how railroads, electrification and even air conditioning have been viewed as enablers of the redistribution of population in the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast over recent history).

A large number of papers see the URDD primarily as a problem of supply. Dr. Wood (2007) observes that “it is clear that telecommunication providers have been, over time, more likely to make investments in advanced technologies in urban rather than in rural areas, with population density being a key factor in relation to such investments” (page351). Dr. Wood concludes that “the most important factor associated with broadband availability relates to population density, though factors such as income can also play a role, especially for cable companies... (page351). Investing in the infrastructure necessary for broadband in densely as opposed to less densely populated areas offers cable as well as telephone providers a much greater return on their investments” (page 358). The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO, 2006)[143] agrees: “the most frequently cited cost factor affecting broadband deployment was the population density of a market. Many stakeholders, including broadband providers, state regulators and state legislators, said population density was a critical determinant of companies’ deployment decisions. The cost of building broadband infrastructure in areas where people live farther apart is much higher than building infrastructure to serve the same number of people in a more urban setting” (page 19).

Once socio-demographic characteristics and broadband availability are considered, GAO found in the US that rural households no longer appear less likely to adopt broadband – “while rural households are less likely to adopt broadband, our findings indicate that this difference may be related in part to the lower availability of broadband in rural areas”[144] (page 5). Grubesic (2008) found that supply-side determinants are critical in explaining the diffusion, adoption and availability of broadband, and metropolitan size is not the only factor determining the availability of broadband. Preston, Cawley & Metykova (2007) suggest that for the European Union (EU), robust local initiatives in rural and less developed regions can only be made possible by some kind of universal service-type policies[145].

Authors also differ on profiles of demand in metropolitan/rural areas. Whitacre (2010) suggests that after controlling for underlying demographic and economic characteristics, households in rural areas have a similar propensity to adopt broadband as metropolitan households. Some authors cite differences in the perceived benefits to Internet adoption between urban and rural areas. For example, Strover (2001)[146] found that the perceived benefits of broadband may be lower in rural areas, due to lack of skills or knowledge to realize the importance of digital information.

In reality, both supply and demand factors are important (Figure 2A). It is clear that by now, the presence of broadband infrastructure is now a decisive factor in business location decisions, especially for knowledge-intensive firms[147], and part of the package put together by many investment promotion agencies. According to Grubesic & Mack (2016), “ICTs are a key enabler of intra- and inter-regional interconnection of economic clusters and city regions”[148]. The real significance of the urban-rural digital divide may therefore lie in:

1) Supporting and underpinning existing macro- or micro-economic activities, as well as the redistribution of existing activities;

2) potentially enabling new forms of economic activity in a new digital economy;

3) Enabling ‘personal fulfilment’ factors e.g. entertainment, staying in touch with distant relatives.

It is notable that policy-makers and the economic literature most often cite economic factors (1) and (2), whereas factor (3) is most often cited as the reason people take up broadband.

Figure 2A: Drivers and determinants of broadband take-up

Source: ITU.

In terms of supply, major supply-side challenges exist in expanding the Internet and web to accommodate the next four billion people – notably, extending present-day networks outside urban areas into rural or remote areas, and upgrading networks to cope with the growth in traffic. The challenge of universal access stems from steep increases in marginal costs of network deployments for less densely populated or more remote areas, jeopardizing the viability of service provision on a commercial for-profit basis.

As one example of just how steeply costs can rise, Analysys Mason (2015) recently calculated the commercial viability of deploying different technologies in different municipalities in TFYR Macedonia by calculating the Net Present Value (NPV) of a roll-out over the period 2015–2023. The estimate of viable coverage varies, depending on the broadband technology and ranges from 44 per cent coverage for FTTH (covering mainly urban/sub-urban areas – see Figure 3A, left) to 51 per cent for DOCSIS3.0 and 94 per cent for LTE i.e. covering most of the territory. (These coverage levels will vary, depending on the country and its geography, population distribution and terrain). Even in Europe, many countries still have a way to go to achieve these levels of coverage, with only four countries over 25 per cent FTTH+FTTB and only six countries over 20 per cent FTTH+FTTB coverage[149]. Globally, four countries have achieved over 50 per cent coverage (UAE, Rep. of Korea, Hong Kong and Japan[150]).

Capital expenditure (capex) per household or per capita also increases massively when reaching the last 10 per cent or 20 per cent of the population in remotely populated areas. The equivalent level of capex for which FTTH remains commercially viable is just under 200 Euros/household for FTTH in TFYR Macedonia (Figure 3A, right chart), 30 euros/capita for LTE and 100 euros/household for DOCSIS3.0. After this, broadband coverage may become prohibitively expensive.

Figure 3A: Commercial viability of broadband coverage

Source: Analysys Mason.

Where the business case is compelling, the World Bank calls for the private sector to take the lead in providing Internet infrastructure and services, but notes that “public investment or intervention is sometimes justified where the private sector is unable to provide affordable access”[151]. One factor contributing to the slowing of Internet growth is that the business case is less compelling for the areas in which the remaining 57 per cent of unconnected people live.

3 Measurement methods to date

There are many different ways of breaking down and measuring digital divide more generally, some of which can yield different conclusions. Methods used for the urban versus rural digital divide include:

‒ Penetration;

‒ Spatial coverage, location & territory measures;

‒ Network Performance;

‒ Utilization measures.

3.1 Penetration measures

Penetration measures have the advantage of being simple, but they represent fairly blunt percentages. They can be available at the national level for target populations of interest, within available reporting structures. Per capita penetration measures are readily available and used widely by many regulators, NSOs and operators, and can be used for ranking purposes. They may also give an indication of the remaining addressable market (as the inverse measure). Absolute percentages are available from:

– Homes: as a proportion of total premises covered – usually for a specific network, as the combined aggregate requires information from all operators. For example, in Q1 2014, 57 per cent of adults in the UK used the Internet on their mobile phone (OFCOM, 2015).

– Proportion of consumers: for example, in Q1 2014, 57 per cent of adults in the UK used the Internet on their mobile phone (OFCOM, 2014).

– Defined relative to minimum thresholds for speed or technology: For example, from recent analysis from the US: “Current deployment data indicate that 92 per cent of Americans in urban areas, and 47 per cent in rural areas, have access to fixed broadband with speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps[152]. In contrast, 31 per cent of the population residing in rural census blocks lack access to fixed broadband providing at least 10 Mbps/768 kbps speeds - SBI Data, as of 31 December 2013. In the U.S., fixed broadband services with even higher speeds, such as 25 Mbps downstream /3 Mbps upstream (25/3 Mbps) or higher, are available to the vast majority of urban households”.[153]

There are a number of national mapping initiatives which have engaged in simple mapping of broadband penetration rates by municipality or county. For example, a number of European nations have carried out mapping initiatives as part of the Digital Agenda. Figure 4A shows the case for Latvia; Figure 5A depicts the situation of household broadband access for Europe and the Balkan States, while Figure 6A shows a recent analysis of the urban/rural digital divide in the United States.

Figure 4A: Broadband across Latvia, 2015

Source: “Latvian Experience Mapping Broadband & QoS aspects”, Elmars Lipenbergs, Head of QoS Division, Electronic Communications Post Dept, Public Utility Commission, Latvia, Presentation.

Figure 5A shows the situation of household broadband access for Europe and the Balkan States. In Bulgaria and Romania, for instance, the urban rural divide in internet access is greater than 30 percentage points (Figure 5A), while in Belgium and Luxembourg it is actually reversed, with higher rates of penetration outside cities. Uzbekistan’s broadband market remains comparatively underdeveloped, with approximately 426,000 users at the end of June 2015, equivalent to a household penetration of just 8 per cent. In Tajikistan, fixed line internet access, however, remains limited to major urban areas and the primary access method is via dial-up or leased line connections, whilst a handful of ISPs also provide satellite and fibre broadband services.

Figure 5A: Household broadband access in Europe, 2015

Source: Eurostat.

Various institutions (such as the FCC) carry out regular benchmarking and mapping initiatives in the United States, where broadband penetration has become a major economic issue in terms of attracting investment into different municipalities and maintaining national competitiveness.

“While the map strongly suggests an urban-rural divide, it also reveals several rural areas that have relatively high rates of Internet adoption. Examples include much of the Northern Great Plains and several counties in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado and Utah. This suggests that even though geography is known to have a large impact on costs, other factors can influence Internet adoption, even after conditioning on geography”.

Figure 6A: Internet penetration in the United States, by County, 2013

Source: US Administration – nearly every American can access the Internet.

3.2 Spatial coverage, location and territory measures

Traditional measurements of cellular coverage are typically associated with space/location (relating to certain geographical locations) there are more complex aspects relevant to B5G systems associated with people’s mobility patterns. The lack of nuances and in-depth understanding of a coverage measure is clearly noticeable in the historical coverage requirements adopted by regulators. Invariably, the percentage of coverage required in license conditions is a static measure, which relates to the locations where people live. There is an important role for engineers and the research community to re-define coverage in terms that are useful and will guide the direction of new radio technologies. Another growth area for analysis is the spatial and temporal patterns with which people move (interview with Korea Telecom on the use of big data). ITU also calculates coverage for fixed broadband networks, including the distribution of population in relation to backbone nodes for fixed networks (see Figure 7A below).

Figure 7A: Status of backbone connectivity, 2013

Source : ITU.

Network Performance

More recent evaluations of network performance can rely on random sampling of performance metrics. For example, according to OFCOM 2014[154] traditional network Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) could include:

– HTTP download speed: the rate at which data can be transferred from the internet to a user’s device (such as downloading apps, music or other files);

– HTTP upload speed: the rate at which data can be transferred from the user’s device to the internet (such as uploading photos or other content to social media sites);

– Web browsing speed: the time that it takes to load a standard web page; and

– Latency: the responsiveness of the network, measured by recording the time it takes for a small piece of data to travel to one point and return a response to the user’s device.

This sort of research enables conclusions to be drawn about relative network performance (which could then be divided according to the urban/rural distinction). For example, in the UK in Q2 2014, a comparison of the relative performance of 3G versus 4G networks led to the following conclusions:

– 4G download speeds were twice as fast as 3G (average speed of 15.1Mbit/s v. 6.1Mbit/s).

– Upload speeds were seven times faster via 4G than those on 3G ( 12.4Mbit/s versus 1.6Mbit/s).

– Web browsing was faster on 4G (average time to load a standard webpage - 0.78 v. 1.06 seconds).

– 4G networks have lower latency than 3G (as an average, latency on 4G was 55.0ms v.66.8ms).

The main criticism of these types of traditional indicators is that they tend to focus on network performance, at the expense of user satisfaction or user experience. Network performance can be measured by the use of more subjective threshold criteria e.g. deciding that a web upload delay in excess of 1 second is likely to result in user dissatisfaction. A 2012 study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in the United States of America, and Akamai Technologies found that Internet users start abandoning attempts to view online videos if they do not load properly within two seconds[155]. The problem with these fixed thresholds is that they will reduce over time as throughput capacity increases (Figure 8A).

Figure 8A: Evolution in technical factors for video

Source: “End-to-end video quality QoE assessment as a means of verifying interoperability”, Presentation by Paul Coverdale, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, to ITU Workshop on VoLTE, 1 December 2015.

3.3 Utilization measures

Michael Curri (Strategic Network Group – 31 March 2015) found that, “regardless of speed available, rural communities are utilizing the Internet and its applications at a lower rate, largely because there is less knowledge transfer amongst peers and less of a market for specialized technical services in in rural areas”, while “rural communities have far less local resources to support businesses looking to better utilize broadband applications”.[156] It is also possible to explore urban – rural divides by utilization measures of different services, which may also give some idea of the sophistication of demand in different areas.

Meanwhile, Ericsson, XL Axiata and Facebook have developed the concept of ‘app coverage’ to measure and improve end-to-end network performance using Facebook application use cases[157]. This seeks to relate the functionality possible to the coverage area, defined in terms of speed from the cell tower. App coverage looks at the network from a user perspective and allows operators to evaluate whether a user will be satisfied with their experience of a specific app in a given location at a given time. App coverage brings together different aspects of network performance – such as radio network throughput (see Figure 9A), latency and capacity, as well as the performance of the backhaul, packet core and CDNs, and performance variations between high- and low-end devices.

Figure 9A: The concept of app coverage

Source: Ericsson/Facebook/XL Axiata.

Table 2A: Bandwidth requirements for sample apps

Service/App

Bandwidth needed

Comments

SMS

Bursty

Email

7.5-8MB of external bandwidth per day, equivalent to a quarter of a kilobyte per second over an eight-hour working day

Bursty

YouTube

Skype video calling

300 kbps/ 300 kbps

Minimum symmetrical bandwidth requirement for mutual video calling

VoIP

30 kbps / 30 kbps

Minimum VoIP for pure voice Skype calling

Facebook

Video calling works best with a connection speed of 150 kbps. Need corresponding figure for template download, single and multipicture download and single picture upload.

https://www.facebook.com/help/325947034156919/

Netflix

0.5 Mb/s required

1.5 Mb/s recommended

3.0 Mb/s recommended for SD

5.0 Mb/s recommended for HD

25 Mb/s recommended for Ultra HD

Netflix Internet connection speed recommendations - https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/the-speed-of-networking-today-and-tomorrow/.

Table 3A: Bandwidth requirements for different types of Skype calling

Source: Skype, at: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA1417/how-much-bandwidth-does-skype-need.

3.4 How to address the Urban-Rural Digital Divide

In terms of what we can actually do about the urban/rural digital divide, we can distinguish between general enabling ‘framework conditions’, which are good for the market as a whole. These include the well-known framework conditions of:

– Undertaking market liberalization, including privatization & competition;

– Establishing an independent regulator, which engages in regular consultations & benchmarking.

– With a broadly open approach to new technologies (VoIP).

These are by now well-known, and most – but by no means all – countries have moved to engage with these. For example, the vast majority of countries now have competitive mobile markets, there are now 162 regulatory authorities worldwide by 2015, and VoIP is now fully legal in over 130 countries.

With regards to the industry more broadly, it is also vital to address industry issues more broadly – different countries are struggling with different aspects:

– Exploring new financing models.

– Work to resolve potential issues quickly (roaming fees, OTTs, FDI, interconnection – issues which may differ, according to the region).

With specific regard to broadband and universal service, the framework for Universal Service is also fairly well-known by now:

– Rights-based approach in laws – twenty countries have made Internet access a legal or civil or citizen’s right.

– USOs have been introduced through a range of different regulatory instruments.

– Universal coverage can be included in the license conditions for new operators.

– A number of countries have gone down the route of establishing a USF with PPPs (although there is somewhat mixes evidence about the efficiency of results).

It can be helpful to establish a National Broadband Plan, with dialogue involving all the major stakeholders. In 2013, ITU found that countries with a National Broadband Plan are likely to have higher fixed and mobile broadband penetration. By 2015, 148 countries had introduced a National Broadband Plan. Table 4A presents examples of supply-side measures that can be taken to promote the supply of broadband networks and services, and high-speed broadband in particular. Regulators may need to work closely with operators and other policy-makers to ensure that coverage obligations or sharing requirements are fully understood, and that adequate follow-up and enforcement mechanisms are available.

Table 4A: Supply-side measures to promote provision of broadband networks and services

Type of policy

Definition and examples

Sharing of telecoms infrastructure

Measures to promote the sharing of existing telecoms infrastructure among players that would benefit operators through a reduction in roll-out costs (e.g. harmonizing and facilitating infrastructure sharing, developing a register of infrastructure locations)

Co-deployment and co-investment

Measures to enable coordination and joint investment in the roll-out of communications networks by telecoms operators, possibly in conjunction with utilities/promoters (e.g. to develop infrastructure in under-served areas, or to promote the joint construction of telecoms networks at the same time as other infrastructure is being constructed)

Access to non-telecoms infrastructure

Measures to allow operators to use non-telecoms civil infrastructure when deploying communications networks (e.g. giving the national regulatory authority (NRA) legal powers to mandate access to infrastructure owned by entities outside the telecoms sector)

Spectrum assignment

Actions to define a clear and efficient spectrum policy to encourage the development of mobile broadband (e.g. promoting technological neutrality when assigning frequencies, assigning the digital-dividend spectrum to mobile)

Spectrum trading

Introduction of the option to transfer spectrum rights to improve flexibility in the use of frequencies

Coverage obligations

Design of new spectrum licenses that will increase the availability of broadband networks and services at a national level (e.g. by imposing coverage obligations, or implementing geographical obligations)

Imposition of technical standards

Elimination of uncertainty regarding the technical specifications for broadband roll-out projects (e.g. by defining standards for high-speed broadband connections that must be provided as part of new housing developments, to help achieve economies of scale, improved quality, or access to new markets)

Wholesale and retail markets

Introduction of measures to promote competition to allow potential new operators to successfully enter the market (e.g. appropriate regulation of wholesale broadband offers, carrying out audits and improving the operational terms of bitstream offers)

Source: Analysys Mason, 2015.

Table 5A outlines examples of measures that can be implemented on the demand side, to facilitate the use of broadband by the largest number of citizens possible and increase the amount and attractiveness of digital content and services in order to foster citizens’ interest in ICT. In certain developing countries, it may still be necessary to demonstrate the proven benefits of ICT services (e.g. to gain access to online services, provide remote diagnosis, news reporting or entertainment) to help create more demand for broadband take-up.

Table 5A: Demand-side measures

Type of policy

Definition and examples

Broadband mapping

Develop a publicly accessible mapping tool to display the availability and speed of retail broadband connections, on a nationwide basis. This would enable citizens to see the current status of broadband services at a particular location, including the availability of basic or high-speed broadband

Transparency and control

Set up transparency requirements for operators to enhance information, control and trust for end users in relation to broadband (e.g. requiring ISPs to be transparent regarding the speed delivered, or requiring broadband contracts to be structured in a way that is clear, understandable and accessible to users)

Communication

Design marketing campaigns to encourage the widespread use of digital services (e.g. to increase awareness of the potential that exists in broadband technologies)

Trust and security

Introduce measures to improve security for users of digital services and increase their confidence in these technologies (e.g. ensuring appropriate security for electronic financial transactions, adapting copyright laws to the digital sphere, and developing services such as e-identification to protect user identities and privacy)

e-Inclusion and ICT literacy

Implement measures to foster access to, and use of, ICT content and services by the vast majority of the population (e.g. promoting education in ICT and broadband, and setting up financial incentives such as fiscal subsidies on ICT services or device subsidies)

e-Education / e-Administration / eHealth / e-Commerce / e-Justice

Devise measures to:

connect schools and universities and develop the use of ICT in the education sector by all stakeholders (e.g. introducing digital learning in the classroom)

make the most important administrative services available online to the whole population, to streamline and simplify administrative processes (e.g. by increasing Internet use in the public sector)

leverage the potential for providing online access to the health sector and encourage the use of new services (e.g. developing telemedicine services through the use of videoconferencing, and digitization of health records)

develop the use of e-commerce (e.g. by simplifying the administrative process involved in opening an online business)

enable the judicial system to benefit from the use of ICT services (e.g. by making legal guidance and information services available online, or allowing citizens to initiate small-claims cases online)

High-quality online content

Involve the State in initiatives to develop high-quality and local online content, in order to attract a wide public audience (e.g. by encouraging and supporting the creation of content and services, offering digital access to cultural content that is the responsibility of the State)

Support for industry

Take steps to support ICT businesses, as a way of stimulating the development of new and innovative services or products (e.g. by creating ‘digital hubs’ to concentrate enterprises in the digital sector and stimulate competitiveness and growth, or reducing the rate of value-added tax charged on products and services in the ICT sector)

Source: Analysys Mason, 2015.

Annex 3.2: Measuring the Urban-Rural Digital Divide (URDD) – Presentation

Annex 4: Country examples of ICT in education in rural areas

– Bangladesh[158]

A Public Private Partnership model where KT is partnering with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Bangladesh Government (Ministry of ICT division under the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology) to provide broadband infrastructure and ICT solutions to a remote Moheshkali island in the East of Bengal, Bangladesh. As the broadband network infrastructure is being set up, the project will begin introducing relevant ICT solutions to the targeted facilities (schools, health clinics, government sites and others) and provide relevant training to the island.

In coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, KT identified four major social priorities in Moheshikhali; Education, Health, Information, and Agricultural Resilience Service. E-learning solution will be deployed to primary schools in Moheshkali Island to provide distant learning to help the island overcome shortages in teaching staffs that so many remote areas go through. e-Learning solution will link teachers in urban areas to students in Moheshkali. Contents related to e-Learning will use the existing Ministry of Education’s “Teachers Portal”.

– Bhutan[159]

The National Research and Education Network (DrukREN) consist of a fiber-optic network using the existing National Fiber Network. The Ministry of Information & Communications (MoIC) is working with the existing Network Operators in Thimphu to establish the IXP. MoIC has established a fiber-optic cable backbone in Thimphu connecting all the Internet Service Providers in a ring topology. The fibre optic network linking all ISPs located in Thimphu will be used by each ISP to connect with the Internet Exchange Point Switch for ISP peering with 10Gbps through Single mode OFC.

– Burundi[160]

DrukREN shall extend high-speed connection to all the research & educational institutes in the country. It shall provide high-speed access to schools, research centers and Basic Health Units located in rural areas.

In order to take full advantage of the national fibre-optic backbone, the Government of Burundi through the ICT ministry has launched projects that will enable rural populations to continue to become familiar with ICTs. These include multipurpose community telecentres and ICT clubs in secondary schools.

Broadband infrastructure and applications have helped to meet the challenges facing Burundi in areas such as health and education.

– People’s Republic of China[161],[162],[163]

Objective of China’s rural broadband development.

According to the plan, education related goals for rural broadband are set as follows:

By 2015, Broadband network will cover all rural schools, libraries and hospitals and 95 per cent% of administrative villages; broadband access rates for rural households will reach 4 Mbps; household penetration of fixed broadband in rural areas will reach 30 per cent; mobile Internet will have become very popular, 3g/4g penetration in rural population will reach 32.5 per cent.

To accomplish the periodic goals, a “Broadband Village” project and a “broadband applications in rural schools” demonstration project are included in the Plan.

Considering so many arduous problems for remote areas to resolve immediately, it’s natural for people outside ICT industry to share the same views on the priority of broadband. Regulator should make the necessity of broadband in providing basic public service such as hygienic, medical and education in rural and significance of broadband in creating development environment for rural communities be fully aware of to widen channels for broadband funds.

The experience of China Telecom in developing “Broadband Villages”.

In addition to the roll-out of infrastructures, the Sichuan Branch of China Telecom has also put into operation platforms for services such as IPTV, e-Learning, e-Commerce and micropayments that aim to address issues specific to the rural areas in China, e.g. monotonous cultural life, relative shortage of medical and educational resources and relatively backward modes of business, trade and logistics. These platforms are very important in enriching the cultural life of the general public, improving livelihoods and promoting the transformation and upgrade of the traditional businesses and logistics in the rural and remote areas.

Cooperation with the government in continued commitment to the improvement of ICT-based education

In 2010, Guangdong Provincial Department of Education signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom. The two sides have achieved fruitful results in Smart Campus, Campus Safety, Care for Children Left Behind and training, etc. Up until now, 27 000 primary and secondary schools in the province have been equipped with broadband access, and China Telecom’s education cloud platform is accessible by 14 000 classes, with 120 000 teachers’ accounts opened.

In May 2016, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education signed a five-year strategic cooperation framework agreement with China Telecom on the "Internet + Education". In 2016, the company will bring broadband access to the remaining 5 per cent unconnected teaching points at the grass-root level in rural areas. Within three years, the company will achieve an average bandwidth of 500 Mbps or more per campus for all the schools located in advanced districts equipped with modern education technologies, and will achieve an access bandwidth of 100 Mbps or more for rural primary and secondary schools and teaching points; in regions and schools with conditions in place, the company will gradually advance the roll-out and application of wireless education MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks) and the wireless campus networks.

– Colombia[164]

The Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (“MINTIC”) committed to provide internet access points to 100 per cent of population centres of more than 100 people through the “Kioscos Vive Digital” (KVD) project.

The project is being implemented in a number of phases. Local operators are contracting with a number of satellite operators (Eutelsat, Intelsat, and Hispasat) for satellite capacity and are installing VSATS around the country. At this stage more than 5,000 Kiosks have been installed, but it is expected that many more VSATS will be requested. The initial requirement of speed per school, have been increased from 4 to 6 Mbps. Kiosks support connectivity to computers, laptops and other devices in libraries, schools and other public access sites.

– Guinea[165]

Making ICTs widely available in rural areas

As part of the effort to spread ICTs in local communities, the Ministry, in collaboration with Global Voice Guinée (GVG), has set up neighbourhood cybercafés in the capital’s five districts, with Internet connection rooms and training rooms equipped with computers and other office equipment. Operating these centres serves as a test for communities in the country’s interior. This is a project to provide Internet connection for public secondary schools.

– Haiti[166]

(The need for telecommunications in rural and remote areas)

With people in rural and remote areas now travelling to and from the city, and with the democratization of telephony, another vision is opening up and the scope of business negotiations is broadening. Parents are demanding more from their children’s education, and are calling for adequately equipped clinics and hospitals.

Business models

A proliferation of community telecentres would have been necessary to facilitate the rapid integration of such rural areas and enhance the development of numerous sectors including education, health, small enterprises, agriculture, etc. The information, telecommunication and data services provided by such local centres are underpinned by telecommunication and IT resources as a factor in sociocultural, economic and political development. The qualified and competent person hitherto responsible for maintaining the equipment and assisting users should now, in addition to managing the telecentre, be running training events for members of the community.

Following the establishment of Internet access, a desirable step would then be to have a large number of Internet radio stations providing content in the areas of environmental education, agriculture, finance, hygiene, health, and so on.

– Kenya[167]

The objectives of the Universal Service Fund in Kenya include supporting expansion of communication services to schools, health facilities and other organizations serving public needs.

Following broadband related projects is a prioritized Universal Service Fund project in Kenya: Establish a first step towards addressing the critical national gap which exists in connectivity of schools and tertiary college institutions below university level.

– Madagascar[168]

The goal of the government’s telecommunication/ICT programme “Numérique pour tous” (Digital for Everyone), which is led by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Development, is to promote widespread use of ICTs especially in Madagascar’s more isolated areas. The ministry of Education in ICTs will enable pupils to become familiar with ICT tools and reduce digital illiteracy in rural areas.

Digital “showcases” associated with an ICT centre (“VOHIKALA Centre”) have been set up in rural communes. School pupils, women, young people, farmers’ associations, and many others, can make use of this centre. VOHIKALA is equipped with computers, scanners, printers and various other accessory items. Some 24 centres have been set up and commissioned in rural areas of Madagascar and many more will follow.

– Rwanda[169]

Education is the vital right of every citizen of Rwanda, according to article 40 of the Rwandan Constitution which states that “Every person has a right to education” whether a child resides in a high profile society or in a remote underserved area.

The government of Rwanda aims to facilitate and contribute to the deployment of the telecommunications or ICTs in rural and remote areas to improve the environment and life of the populations in those areas with more beneficial effects on poverty alleviation of the country.

The following are educational related initiatives implemented by the Government of Rwanda through Universal Access Fund (UAF) to promote the penetration of telecommunications/ICT access and its usage in rural and remote areas of the country:

1) Provision of bandwidth subsidy to rural communities for accessing the education, health and public services in rural and remote areas of Rwanda.

2) Providing the broadband connectivity to 30 community ICT Telecentres in rural and remote areas of the country.

3) Offering the internet bandwidth connectivity to all Universities (Public and Private) using RwEdNet.

4) Connecting secondary schools in remote and rural areas on VSAT internet connectivity.

5) All technical secondary and college schools are connected.

Ongoing Projects

Since 2013, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) through the UAF in collaboration with other institutions has developed and implemented the following projects:

1) Connecting rural schools on broadband Internet services:

In line of promoting the quality education in the country and ICTs penetration to rural and underserved areas; RURA initiated the joint project with Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to connect schools in rural and underserved areas on broadband Internet services. Currently, 67 schools were selected where:

• The identified 18 schools in rural areas will be connected to broadband Internet by using the national optic fibre backbone, and;

• The other 49 schools located far from the national optic fibre network will be connected to broadband Internet services by using the Wireless Technologies.

This project is now in its implementation phase and coordinated by MINEDUC as the focal point of the project with the following main goals:

• To promote the quality education in the country;

• To speed up the ICT penetration to rural and underserved areas;

• To spread the Internet connectivity to school’s neighbourhood communities.

2) Supporting ICT literacy in rural and remote areas of Rwanda:

This project aimed to build up nation`s ICT skills and bring ICT literacy to the critical mass by promoting the ICT literacy in rural areas of the country. This project plays a vital role in the citizens of Rwanda by establishing e-Learning and e-service centres in rural and underserved areas as a means to providing access to affordable ICT services to rural communities. This is in line with the leadership vision of transforming the country into a knowledge based society. The project stakeholders are Ministry of Education and Ministry of Local Governance.

– Sri Lanka[170]

Connect a School, Connect a Community Project

The ITU assisted “Connect a School, Connect a Community” public-private-people-partnership (PPPP) project in Sri Lanka is helping to bridge the rural-urban digital gap and opening up economic opportunities for rural communities. The ITU and Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) have provided funds for the hardware and software required to equip the computer laboratories in schools while the Telecommunication Operators, Internet Service Providers joined as partners to assist in providing access to education through ICT in the rural schools of Sri Lanka. This project aims to transform these schools in to connected community ICTs centres. The project has been received with great enthusiasm by students. For an example, a grade 9 students in a rural School, had this to say: “I don’t have a computer in my home and my friends don’t have computers in their homes either. We now have our own computer lab at our school. So now I have the chance to learn with computers. The first thing I learnt was how to draw and colour pictures. Other than that, I learnt how to use dictionaries, the calculator and study the online educational programme of the Ministry of Education. I found the Internet really wonderful and fantastic. We can search information and pictures, listen to music and watch educational documentaries. Occasionally, we get the chance to play computer games.” More information can be found using following link; http://itunews.itu.int/en/4956-Spotlighting-Sri-Lanka.note.aspx.

Nenasala

“Nenasala” (Wisdom Outlet) is a tele-centre implemented by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) in rural areas to assist communities in poverty reduction, social and economic development, and peace building. Under the "Nenasala" label, several models of the tele-centres or knowledge centres have been established in all parts of Sri Lanka to spread ICT services to the rural and semi-urban population. Rural knowledge centres, e-libraries, distance & e-Learning centres, tsunami camp computer and telegnetic project are few models implemented under “nanasala” project. More information can be found using the following links; http://nanasala.org/target.htm and http://nanasala.org/telemedicine.htm.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation presented its 2014 Access to Learning Award of US$1 Million to the e-Library program under “Nanasala” in recognition of its work to provide free access to computers and the internet to underserved Sri Lankans living in rural and remote areas.

– Zimbabwe[171]

Zimbabwe’s Universal Service Trust Fund has carried different projects including the computerisation and provision of e-Learning services in 100 schools.

E-Learning Connect A School Connect A Community Project

A pilot project to computerize 60 Schools that is, 30 primary and 30 secondary schools in rural areas was also undertaken. Each school received 10 tutor laptops, 80 student laptops, 2 wireless access point devices, 80 desks and chairs, 2 x 3kW solar modules, school server, digital curriculum content, training of teachers, charging trolleys, 2 projectors, 1 printer including accessories. Deployment of hardware, furnisher and the installation of LAN, solar power equipment, software and licenses has been completed.

Public Rural Institutions Internet Connectivity

The project will cover an initial 1300 schools, Rural District Council offices (RDCs), clinics, police stations and other government institutions. The plans for the project are almost complete and work should commence within the next two months. A total of nine thousand schools are expected to be connected in phases over the next three years.

_________________

[1] 农村和边远地区的定义见第3.1节。

[2] SG1RGQ/107号文件，“农村和边远地区的宽带发展状况”，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[3] 第10-1/2号课题，农村和边远地区的通信，最后报告。

[4] 第10-2/2号课题，农村和边远地区的电信，最后报告。

[5] 第10-3/2号课题，农村和边远地区的电信/ICT，最后报告。

[6] 联合国大会信息社会世界峰会成果实施全面审查高级别会议成果文件。

[7] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[8] 全权代表大会最后文件（2014年，釜山）。

[9] 国际电联第3期新闻双月刊（2014年）– 来自迪拜的特别报告。

[10] 衡量信息社会报告（2014年），见下列网站：（https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2014.aspx）。

[11] 第10-3/2号课题，农村和边远地区的电信/ICT，最后报告。

[12] 1/265号文件，斯里兰卡民主社会主义共和国。

[13] 1/46号文件，中国农村的宽带及关于第5/1号课题研究工作的提案，中华人民共和国。

[14] 1/206号文件，农村宽带创新模式 – 创建农村光网新时代，中华人民共和国。

[15] 1/140号文件，商业模式和对运营商的鼓励，海地共和国。

[16] 1/144号文件，几内亚共和国农村和闭塞地区的电信/ICT基础设施和服务接入情况，几内亚共和国。

[17] 1/164号文件，制定估算牌照费用方法的必要性，科特迪瓦共和国。

[18] 1/427号文件，ICT促进农村地区发展：刚果民主共和国的案例，刚果民主共和国。

[19] 1/181号文件，教育领域的ICT，农村和边远地区，英特尔公司（美国）。

[20] SG1RGQ/214号文件，对第5/1号课题全球调查问卷答复的分析，第5/1号课题的副报告人。

[21] SG1RGQ/226号文件，衡量城市 - 农村数字鸿沟，总秘书处。

[22] 1/347号文件，衡量城市 - 农村数字鸿沟（URDD），总秘书处。

[23] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区的宽带状况研究概要，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[24] 1/282号文件，有关促进农村地区ICT更好发展的无线宽带网络的讨论，中华人民共和国。

[25] SG1RGQ/161 (Rev.1)号文件，阿尔卡特-朗讯国际（法国），美国阿尔卡特-朗讯有限公司（美国）。

[26] 由于通过卫星连接完美建立了经由IpSEC隧道的IuH无线电接口，因此也建立了语音通话，并在若干数据应用中体验到了18 mbps的下行链路吞吐量，传输层的延迟约为680毫秒、抖动约为15毫秒。

[27] SG1RGQ/94号文件，带有卫星回程的移动基础示例，KDDI公司（日本）。

[28] SG1/206号文件，农村宽带创新模式 – 创建农村光网新时代，中华人民共和国。

[29] RGQ10-3/2/5号文件，地面无线宽带连接项目，布隆迪共和国。

[30] 第7-2/1号课题“关于普遍接入宽带服务的监管政策”的文稿。

[31] 日本长野县盐尻市农村地区通过特设通信网络实现电信/ICT发展（链接：案例研究库）。

[32] 1/385号文件，旨在支持发展的卫星宽带应用，Inmarsat公司。

[33] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区的宽带发展状况，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[34] L.1700建议书 – 发展中国家农村通信低成本可持续电信基础设施的要求和框架，下列网站提供（https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.1700-201606-I）。

[35] 1/251号文件，ITU-T第5研究组就涉及ITU-D研究组的ITU-T第5研究组最新活动向ITU-D第1和2研究组发出的联络声明，ITU-T第5研究组（环境和气候变化）。

[36] SG1RGQ/269号文件，ITU-T第5研究组向ITU-D第1研究组第5/1号课题（农村和边远地区的电信/ICT）发出的联络声明，ITU-T第5研究组（环境和气候变化）。

[37] L.1700建议书 – 发展中国家农村通信低成本可持续电信基础设施的要求和框架，下列网站提供（https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.1700-201606-I）。

[38] L.1700建议书增补22见https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.Sup22/。

[39] L.1700建议书增补23见https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.Sup23/。

[40] L.1700建议书增补29见https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.Sup29/。

[41] L.1700建议书增补30见https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.Sup30/。

[42] L.1700建议书增补31见https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.Sup31/。

[43] 有关Telecentre.org基金会的更多信息见：http://www.telecentre.org。

[44] SG2RGQ/138号文件，有关将MDRU结果加入关于救灾ICT经验文件中的提案，日本；http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Pages/TouchingLives.aspx?ItemID=12。

[45] 1/316号文件，关于修订ICT救灾经验报告中涉及ICT设备案文的提案，NTT先进技术公司（日本）。

[46] http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/reports/bb-annualreport2015.pdf。

[47] 1/404号文件，巴拉圭地区的移动货币，巴拉圭（共和国）。

[48] 下列网站提供爱沙尼亚农村发展计划和农村地区基于ICT的服务项目：http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/enrd-static/fms/pdf/47E4F7BF-9483-405B-54E2-7A64D914332E.pdf。

[49] https://www.isfteh.org/files/media/WHO-ITU_National_eHealth_Strategy_Toolkit.pdf。

[50] SG1RGQ/286号文件，卢旺达共和国。

[51] 有关FAO“电子农业战略指南”的详细情况可在以下网址查看：http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5564e.pdf。

[52] 下列网站提供葡萄牙为农村地区提供电子政务服务项目的细节：https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/epractice/news/portugal-brings-egovernment-services-rural-areas。

[53] 下列网站提供印度国家电子政务计划：https://india.gov.in/e-governance/national-e-governance-plan 和 https://india.gov.in/e-governance/mission-mode-projects。

[54] http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/view/1579/612。

[55] 1/382号文件，ICT数字技能和电子教育对农村和边远地区的影响，伊朗科技大学及相关组织（伊朗伊斯兰共和国）。

[56] http://connectaschool.org/itu-module/21/544/en/schools/connectivity/reg/3.3.5.1。

[57] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区的宽带发展状况，电信发展局第5/1号焦点课题联系人。

[58] 1/353号文件，“Information on the ITU Interactive Transmission Maps”，电信发展局第Q1/1号课题联系人。

[59] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Technology/Pages/InteractiveTransmissionMaps.aspx。

[60] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[61] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区宽带现状研究概要，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[62] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[63] 1/46号文件，中国农村宽带及有关第5/1号课题研究工作的提案，中华人民共和国。

[64] 1/158号文件，中国电信发展“宽带乡村”的经验，中华人民共和国。

[65] 1/144号文件，几内亚共和国农村和闭塞地区的电信/ICT基础设施和服务接入现状，几内亚共和国。

[66] SG1RGQ/2号文件，越南公共事业电信服务提供发展方面的信息，越南社会主义共和国。

[67] SG1RGQ/256号文件，农村和边远地区公共事业电信服务普遍化项目，越南社会主义共和国。

[68] SG1RGQ/32号文件，布隆迪农村连接及其对农村人口产生的社会经济发展影响，布隆迪共和国。

[69] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[70] SG1RGQ/292号文件，日本的战略规划情况，日本。

[71] 1/329号文件，卫星在连接未未连接人群方面发挥的至关重要的作用，ITSO、INTELSAT和EUTELSAT IGO。

[72] 2013年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[73] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[74] 2013年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[75] 面向所有人的普遍服务基金和数字包容性，2013年，国际电联。

[76] 1/46号文件，中国农村宽带及有关第5/1号课题研究工作的提案，中华人民共和国。

[77] 1/144号文件，几内亚共和国农村和闭塞地区电信/ICT基础设施和服务接入情况，几内亚共和国。

[78] 1/194号文件，作为农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展推动因素的普遍服务基金，津巴布韦共和国。

[79] 1/217号文件，普遍服务基金，沙特阿拉伯。

[80] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[81] SG1RGQ/233号文件，伊朗农村和边远地区的ICT发展政策，伊朗科技大学（伊朗伊斯兰共和国）及相关组织。

[82] 1/291号文件，肯尼亚旨在促进农村和边远地区ICT服务发展的普遍服务基金的使用，肯尼亚共和国。

[83] 1/194号文件，作为农村和边远地区电信/ICT发展推动因素的普遍服务基金，津巴布韦共和国。

[84] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[85] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区宽带状况研究概要，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[86] 2013年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[87] SG1RGQ/265号文件，ITU-D 19建议书在墨西哥的实施，墨西哥。

[88] SG1RGQ/292号文件，日本的战略规划情况，日本。

[89] SG1RGQ/296号文件，缅甸边远地区的信息获取，缅甸联邦。

[90] SG1RGQ/297号文件，闭塞地区的蜂窝社区网：巴西亚马逊地区的案例研究，巴西联邦共和国。

[91] 2013年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[92] 1/164号文件，制定估算牌照费用方法的必要性，科特迪瓦共和国。

[93] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[94] 1/158号文件，中国电信发展“宽带乡村”的经验，中华人民共和国。

[95] 1/206号文件，宽带创新模式：创建农村地区光网新时代，中华人民共和国。

[96] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[97] 1/270号文件，农村和边远地区的电信/ICT，马达加斯加共和国。

[98] 1/144号文件，几内亚共和国农村和闭塞地区的电信/ICT基础设施和服务接入状况，几内亚共和国。

[99] 1/206号文件，宽带创新模式：创建农村地区光网新时代，中华人民共和国。

[100] SG1RGQ/32号文件，布隆迪乡村连接及其对乡村人口产生的社会经济发展影响，布隆迪共和国。

[101] 1/254号文件，布隆迪国家光纤骨干网在连接农村地区方面发挥的影响力，布隆迪共和国。

[102] 1/406号文件，布隆迪国家光纤骨干网在连接农村地区方面发挥的影响力，布隆迪共和国。

[103] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[104] 1/312号文件，塞内加尔普遍实施了社区多媒体中心（CMC），塞内加尔共和国。

[105] SG1RGQ/152号文件，哈萨克斯坦。

[106] SG1RGQ/169号文件，特别关注农村和边远地区的电信/ICT领域的举措和近期成就，阿富汗。

[107] 1/334号文件，国家政府关于提高农村地区移动接入的政策，巴西联邦共和国。

[108] 1/344号文件，从2代转向宽带 – 冈比亚的经验，冈比亚共和国。

[109] SG1RGQ/292号文件，日本的战略规划情况，日本。

[110] SG1RGQ/87号文件，通过电信和电力部门共享基础设施为农村地区提供光纤骨干网，巴西联邦共和国。

[111] SG1RGQ/32号文件，布隆迪农村连接及其对农村人口产生的社会经济发展影响力，布隆迪共和国。

[112] 1/468号文件，国家移动通信业务竞争力和服务条件发展计划，阿根廷共和国。

[113] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[114] SG1RGQ/107号文件，农村和边远地区宽带状况研究概要，电信发展局第5/1号课题联系人。

[115] 1/206号文件，宽带创新模式：创建农村地区光网新时代，中华人民共和国。

[116] 1/428号文件，旨在实现农村和边远地区智能社区的雪亮项目（Shiny），中华人民共和国。

[117] SG1RGQ/32号文件，布隆迪农村连接及其对农村人口产生的社会经济发展影响力，布隆迪共和国。

[118] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[119] SG1RGQ/234号文件，伊朗农村地区的电子保险：一种基于信息通信技术的公共服务，伊朗信息技术组织，伊朗伊斯兰共和国。

[120] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[121] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[122] 1/181号文件，教育中的ICT-农村和边远地区，英特尔公司（美国）。

[123] SG1RGQ/99号文件，卢旺达的电信和ICT举措，卢旺达共和国。

[124] 2015年宽带发展状况，宽带委员会。

[125] 面向所有人的普遍服务基金和数字包容性，2013年，国际电联。

[126] http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/index。

[127] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Study-Groups/Pages/case-study-library.aspx。

[128] 1/288号文件，海地共和国。

[129] SG1RGQ/256号文件，农村和边远地区公共事业电信服务普遍化项目，越南社会主义共和国。

[130] SG1RGQ/295号文件，中国的农村宽带发展和措施，中华人民共和国。

[131] SG1RGQ/296号文件，缅甸农村地区的信息获取，缅甸联邦共和国。

[132] SG1RGQ/297号文件，闭塞地区的蜂窝社区网络：巴西亚马逊的研究案例，巴西联邦共和国。

[133] 1/265号文件，斯里兰卡民主社会主义共和国。

[134] SG1RGQ/265号文件，ITU-D 19建议书在墨西哥的实施，墨西哥。

[135] SG1RGQ/290号文件，通过补贴和免除频谱费实现农村连接：肯尼亚的经验，肯尼亚共和国。

[136] 链接：案例研究库。

[137] http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0310e/a0310e05.htm.

[138] ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010, “Monitoring the WSIS Targets: A mid-term review”, ITU, Geneva.

[139] See the definition of national and international % rural populations available from the World Bank at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.

[140] Markandey Rai (2006), “Operational Definitions of Urban, Rural and Urban Agglomeration for Monitoring Human Settlements”.

[141] Presentation, “Connectivity: Broadband market developments in the EU”, Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2015.

[142] Wood (2007), “Broadband Availability in Metropolitan and non-Metropolitan Pennsylvania: A Narrowing Broadband Divide?”, available at: https://netcom.revues.org/1091?lang=en.

[143] The US Government Accountability Office (2006),”Broadband Deployment Extensive throughout the United States, but It Is Difficult to Assess the Extent of Deployment Gaps in Rural Areas GAO-06-426”, available at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06426.pdf.

[144] The US Government Accountability Office (2006),”Broadband Deployment Extensive throughout the United States, but It Is Difficult to Assess the Extent of Deployment Gaps in Rural Areas GAO-06-426”, available at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06426.pdf.

[145] Preston P, Cawley A, Metykova M. 2007. Broadband and Rural Areas in the EU: Recent Research and Implications, Telecommunications Policy, 31, 6-7, p. 389-400.

[146] Strover, S. (2001), “Rural Internet connectivity”, Telecommunications Policy, 25(5), 331–347.

[147] “The Importance of Broadband Provision to Knowledge Intensive Firm Location”, Mack, Anselin & Grubesic, http://www.ersa.org/IMG/pdf/MackSummerSchool_Presentation.pdf.

[148] “Broadband Telecommunications and Regional Development” (2016), Grubesic, Tony H., and Mack, Elizabeth A, Routledge.

[149] http://www.ftthcouncil.eu/documents/PressReleases/2015/PR2015_FTTH_Subscribers.pdf.

[150] Ibid.

[151] “World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends”, World Bank, forthcoming.

[152] Footnote 31, page 8 https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-order-increase-connect-america-rural-broadband-speeds#.

[153] https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-order-increase-connect-america-rural-broadband-speeds# See National Broadband Map, http://www.broadbandmap.gov/.

[154] http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/research/mbb.pdf.

[155] Krishnan, S. Shunmuga and Sitaraman, Ramesh K., 2012. University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Akamai Technologies. Video Stream Quality Impacts Viewer Behavior: Inferring Causality Using Quasi-Experimental Designs. Available at:www.akamai.com/dl/technical_publications/video_stream_quality_study.pdf.

[156] Curri, «The Rural Broadband Digital Divide”, available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2587782.

[157] Ericsson White Paper, “Measuring and Improving Network Performance”, available at: https://info.internet.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/10734295_270843076447514_1952370192_n.pdf.

[158] Document 1/368, “ICT improvement initiatives in remote and isolated areas: GiGA Island Project in Bangladesh”, Republic of Korea.

[159] Document 1/407, “National research & education network in Bhutan”, Kingdom of Bhutan.

[160] Document 1/254, “Impact of the national fibre-optic backbone in connecting rural areas in Burundi”, Republic of Burundi.

[161] Document 1/46, “Rural broadband in China and proposals for Question 5/1 study”, People’s Republic of China.

[162] Document 1/158, “The experience of China Telecom in developing ‘Broadband Villages’”, People’s Republic of China.

[163] Document 1/283, “China Telecom’s experience in rural broadband expansion in the era of all-optical networks”, People’s Republic of China.

[164] Document 1/329, “The critical role of satellite in connecting the unconnected”, ITSO, INTELSAT and EUTELSAT IGO.

[165] Document 1/144, “Situation regarding access to telecommunication/ICT infrastructure and services in rural and isolated areas in the Republic of Guinea”, Republic of Guinea.

[166] Document 1/140, “Business model and operator encouragement”, Republic of Haiti.

[167] Document 1/291, “Use of the Universal Services Fund for extension of ICT Services in rural and remote areas in Kenya”, Republic of Kenya.

[168] Document 1/270, “Telecommunications/ICTs for rural and remote areas”, Republic of Madagascar.

[169] Document SG1RGQ/147, “ICT in education sector of Rwanda”, Republic of Rwanda.

[170] Document SG1RGQ/176(Rev.1), “Closing the gap of Digital Divide”, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

[171] Document 1/194, “The universal services fund as a driver of telecommunication/ICT development in rural and remote areas”, Republic of Zimbabwe.