NEXT GENERATION POLICY AND REGULATION Key Challenges

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NEXT GENERATION POLICY AND REGULATIONKey
Challenges
Hopeton S. Dunn, Ph.D. Academic
Director, Telecommunications Policy and
Management (TPM) Programme, Mona School of
Business, UWI
Presented at the Caribbean Internet Forum 2008,
October 30, 2008, Port of Spain, Trinidad and
Tobago
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Next Generation Networks

• NGNs are IP-based telecommunication networks that
  allow for the transport of integrated services
  combining high-quality voice, video, image and
  text across a single network at high speed

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Transitions
Plain Old Telephones Copper Cables Wirelines
Source TPM Programme, MSB
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Selected NGN Applications

• Global Positioning Systems
• WiMax
• Mobile Computing
• IPTV, mobile TV and mobile radio
• Mobile advertising and marketing
• Interactive Video Games, Virtual Communities

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Creating the Information Society A Global
Development Imperative
stakeholders need to continue working together,
focusing on concrete actions and projects in the
field of ICTs, supporting the development of the
inclusive information society, spurring
investment, employment and broader human, social
and economic development.
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré Secretary-General, ITU
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Poverty in Jamaica

• Poverty rate at 14.3 (based on 2006 estimates)
• Incidence of poverty increasing in rural areas
• Male-headed household consumption at a higher
  level than female-headed households

I\NICT Plan Documents
Source PIOJ Poverty Mapping for Jamaica, 2008
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The Challenge of Interconnection

• It may affect existing interconnection
  arrangements
• New interconnection models may be required for a
  new regulatory environment
• Ensuring no discriminatory access behaviour even
  to users in rural locations
• Developing a transparent interconnection
  regulatory framework

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Spectrum Management

• Phasing out of inefficient spectrum allocation
  for accessibility by new NGN operators
• Determining licence fees that are not prohibitive
  to investors
• Considering licence-free use of spectrum for
  education / government purposes

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Universal Access

• NGNs promises universal access via cheaper voice
  and affordable value-added services
• However there is a challenge is in the widening
  of digital divide due to uneven rollout between
  rural and urban locations and between affluent
  and low-income communities
• There is also a challenge in regulating access
  for the disabled and in making appropriate
  content and tools available

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NGNs and the Universal Access Framework
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Universal Access Funding

• Should Universal Access funding should include
  NGN Technology and Broadband Connectivity?
• If so how would it be collected and what form
  would it take?
• Who should benefit from these funds the service
  providers, the end-users, community access,
  schools?

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Consumer Protection

• New and more complex security challenges for the
  end-user
• More personalized media may lead to unauthorized
  disclosure of personal information and
  preferences
• SPAM / SPIT (Spam over Internet Telephony)
• GPS services may make consumers vulnerable to
  being tracked or followed by criminals

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Content Regulation

• With the increasing number of media outlets it is
  much harder to regulate the content available to
  the public, especially in terms of inappropriate
  content for children
• There is also the problem of intellectual
  property rights violation, which may be more
  common in an NGN environment

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Further Challenges for Content Regulation

• The regulation of new economic spaces such as
  virtual communities and interactive television
• Peer-to-peer communication
• Mobile TV across national borders
• Pervasiveness and the risk of the consumer being
  bombarded by marketing-driven content

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Regulatory Convergence

• As providers begin to offer a range of services
  in ICT, a centralized body for its regulation
  will become necessary
• Although in the Jamaican context the proposal is
  to converge the telecom, spectrum and broadcast
  transmission regulation, there may be a need in
  the future to incorporate financial regulation

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Achieving Effective Access

• Wilson (2006) distinguishes between Effective and
  Formal access.
• Formal Access Physical reach
• Effective Access Physical reach plus
• Financial affordability
• User expertise
• Ease of interface
• Relevance of content
• Effective Access - a necessary but not sufficient
  condition to enhance ICT competitiveness

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Capacity Building

• NGN uptake depends on the availability and
  quality of the content and applications
• It will also depend on the level of training of
  its users in using these applications for
  personal and economic development
• Suitable content for target populations including
  e-government, telemedicine and e- learning
  services will motivate uptake
• Formal literacy and information literacy of other
  types are necessary ingredients

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Formal Literacy and ICT Adoption

• Illiteracy impedes active use of text messaging
  and advanced mobile applications among some poor
  youth in inner-city communities
• The 20 illiteracy rate in Jamaica is
  concentrated among rural or inner city youth
• Formal literacy must be addressed as we move into
  being more knowledge-based societies

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Information Literacy A Crucial Component

• Speaks to the ability of an individual to
  effectively and critically engage in the
  participatory, networked culture
• Information Literacy encapsulates a range of
  other literacies
• Media literacy
• Visual literacy
• Digital literacy

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Cyber-Crime Legislation and Education

• Cyber-Crime laws related to hacking and
  unauthorized information sharing are needed
• Education of consumers is a part of the
  information literacy drive required

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Environmental Challenges

• Higher energy
• demand and
• therefore greater
• fuel consumption
• Increase in
• electronic waste
• (e-waste)
• Increased NIR exposure (non-ionizing radiation
  exposure)

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Strategic Roadmap of ICT Development
e-Business and ICT Industry Development
Network Readiness and Infrastructure Development
Legislative and Policy Framework
Cultural Content and Creativity
e-Inclusion Open Access to ICTs
e-Government
Research and Innovation
Education and Training
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Strategic Development Outcomes
Expanded Job Creation, Entrepreneurship and New
Business Development
Greater Public Sector use and Citizen Adoption of
e-Government Processes
Accelerated Economic Human Development and
Global Competitiveness
Growth in Innovation and Development of New ICT
Products and Services
Greater Global Recognition of and Rewards from
Brand Jamaica
Highly Educated and Well-Trained Jamaicans
available to the ICT Sector
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Conclusions

• The main challenge that NGN bring is in the
  development of the infrastructure, the legal and
  regulatory framework and the human element in
  harmony across the region for seamless
  connectivity

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Sooner or later, all media content is going to
flow through a single black box into our living
rooms (or through the black boxes we carry with
us everywhere we go). (Henry Jenkins,
Convergence Culture)