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We take it as a statement of fact that access to the Internet is a significant enabler of economic growth and human development. We also recognize that the Internet has a broad range of other contributions to human well-being including social, cultural and political. As well there are significant potential negative consequences and costs of the Internet to those living in rural areas and that these need to be recognized, researched and responded to. However, there are equally a range of ways through which these services may be provided including state support for local infrastructure and content, locally/community owned and driven infrastructure and access provision, private sector provision and a wide range of mixed approaches. No single approach will be suitable in all instances and care will be taken to ensure that local and national requirements and resources are taken into account in any access and use provision.
Croatian Regulatory Authority for Networks Industries (HAKOM) is the Croatian national regulatory authority for telecommunications, postal and railway services market. Enabling environment for access to the internet is role for all stakeholders (politicians, law makers, regulators, private companies, academia and, last but not least, consumers).
The regulatory authority can influence building an enabling environment by creating new investment incentives and improving the existing regulations to boost the development of broadband infrastructure; making the best possible use of scarce resources such as frequencies; encouraging the development of fair competition in the telecommunications markets, also in terms of quality. In addition, regulator carries out its activities with the customer wealth in mind. Therefore, initiatives aimed at providing customers with knowledge on the available services (e.g. QoS indicators and measurement tools) also constitute an important part of both regulatory activity and enabling environment.
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