​​​Statement of the situation or prob​​lem

As recognized in the Final Report on study Question 4/1 for the ITU-D study period 2018-2021, consideration of economic aspects of national telecommunications/ICTs continues to be important. With the emergence of new types of telecommunication enterprise, such as MVNOs, tower companies and capacity wholesale operators, and the convergence of traditional telecom businesses, regulators and operators are having to adapt their policies and strategies to this new digital reality. Finding suitable authorizations, cost models and business models and using relevant policy and regulatory tools such as infrastructure-sharing should be considered by NRAs in order to help their national markets thrive, as shown in contributions received from NRAs, policy-makers and operators alike which have been considered by the Rapporteur Group for Question 4/1 in the current study period. At the same time, further global forces pushing towards increased digitalization, as well as national economic and global emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, are throwing up many new relevant issues that call for additional study and investigation in the next ITU-D study period. Expansion of the number of topics follows the need to divide up the work on Final Reports of Question 4/1. Thus, the topics which will continue from the ITU-D study period 2018-2021 could be reviewed in the scope of revision of the Question 4/1 Final Report for that study period, whereas new topics could be considered under the new Question 4/1 Final Report for 2022-2025 study period. Thus, the work programme set out below to guide the activities related to Question 4/1 should cover:
• ​​​identification of active collaborators;
• expected outputs of the Question;
• working methods; and
• work programme.
  ​​

  Question o​​r issue for study

  Continuing topics from previous study period with some expansion

  The Question will continue to cover the following main topics from national perspectives in the scope of possible revision of the Question 4/1 Final Report for ITU-D study period 2018-2021:
  1) New charging methods (or models, if applicable) for services provided over NGN networks:
  1.1) Methods for determining the costs of wholesale services.
  2) The impact of infrastructure-sharing (local loop unbundling, tower companies, etc.) on investment cost, provision of telecommunication/ICT services, competition and prices to consumers: case studies with quantitative analysis.
  2.1) For what type of infrastructure (or facilities) is the provider party free to negotiate reasonable commercial terms and conditions with a requesting party?
  2.2) Methods for determining the costs of passive and active infrastructure-sharing services.
  3) Consumer price evolution and impact on ICT service usage, innovation, investment and operator revenues:
  3.1) New and innovative business models for services deployed in an NGN environment.
  3.2) Trends, offers and prices of telecommunication/ICT services, including international mobile roaming.
  3.3) Assessment of telecommunication/ICT service bundles, bonuses and their impact.
  4) Trends in the development of virtual mobile operators and their regulatory framework.
  2.2 New topics for next study period
  The Question will cover the following main topics from a national perspective in the scope of developing the new Question 4/1 Final Report or other deliverables for the ITU-D study period 2022-2025:
  1) Impact of new converging ICTs on cost-modelling strategies traditionally carried out by stakeholders constituting the ICT networked value chain (e.g. telecom operators, over-the-top, digital service providers, etc.) ( in possible collaboration with Question 2/2):
  1.1) The role and design of new tariffs for convergent networks/services (e.g. bundling)
  1.2) The role and impact of tower companies as new entrants for a converging telecommunication/ICT market.
  2) The role and impact on achieving the SDGs of new types and modes of investment in telecommunications/ICTs, e.g. blended investment and crowdfunding.
  3) Analysis of case studies on the economic contribution of digital telecommunication/ICT technologies and services to the national economy.
  4) Framework for establishing the contribution of telecommunications/ICTs to a country's GDP.
  5) Economic incentives and mechanisms for bridging the digital divide.
  6) Analysis of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on telecommunication/ICT markets.
  7) Analysis of the contribution of telecommunications/ICTs on the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Economic aspects/implications of digital transformation:
  The economic value of usage of personal data (in possible collaboration with Question 6/1 and Question 3/2);
  Impact on innovation and productivity and other national economic aspects of digital financial inclusion.
  2.3 New topics for this study period to be addressed in collaboration with other ITU-D Questions1
  1) National experiences on the contribution to the national economy in bridging the digital divide to provide accessible and affordable connectivity (in possible collaboration with Questions 1/1, 5/1 and 7/1);
  2) Different models of infrastructure sharing, including on commercially negotiated terms (in possible collaboration with Question 1/1)
  2.1) Usage and impact of alternative infrastructure from other actors (e.g. aerial optical fibre using electric poles belonging an energy company, telephone poles of incumbent operator, a railway company's optical fibre) (in possible collaboration with Question 1/1).
  

  Expected ​output​

  ​
• Revision of the Final Report for Question 4/1 for the ITU-D study period 2018-2021 on the topics set out in Section 2.1, as appropriate.
• Revision of the Question 4/1 Guidelines on cost modelling, as appropriate.
• Final Report for new Question 4/1 and other deliverables for the ITU-D study period 2022-2025, covering one/some/all of proposed new topics set out in Section 2.2.
• Joint deliverables with other ITU-D Questions on the topics set out in Section 2.3, as appropriate.
• Inputs for ITU Regional Economic Dialogues, as appropriate.
• ​Inputs for ITU Tariff Policies Survey, as appropriate. ​