Over the last 20 years, as the use of digital technologies has become more central to people’s lives, there have been significant shifts in the approach to what is included in the scope of universal access to information and communication technologies and digital services and how to fund it. These shifts have occurred in the policy and regulatory space, as well as in the broader development-financing sphere. Accordingly, universal access and service funds, established specifically to address this conundrum, have had to reconsider how they approach their mandates.

Who needs the ITU toolkit and why?

The ITU universal service financing efficiency toolkit was developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)  with the support of Government of the United Kingdom Digital Access Programme (DAP) to promote effective regulation, greater investment, and innovative models for school connectivity in unserved communities and for broader digital inclusion.

This toolkit complements the ITU report on financing universal access to digital technologies and services published in 2021. The toolkit provides analytical tools, examples, and templates that are grounded in practical experience and designed to help policy-makers, regulators and universal service fund administrators to navigate common questions and challenges they face when using public funds to design, implement and finance programmes and projects that facilitate access to digital technologies and communication infrastructure. The toolkit recognises that public investment strategies must be complemented by other financing mechanisms from private capital to development finance, including non-governmental, philanthropic and community sources. It is also clear that any such interventions must address the entire digital ecosystem, from high-speed and high-quality infrastructure to affordable and accessible services and content. The goal is to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth through innovative, high speed and high quality Internet access, which is in turn supported by locally relevant and affordable services and applications.

This toolkit helps to navigate the multitude of business models that need financial support in order to have a local, municipal and national impact, as well as to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets related to and facilitated by digitalization.

How the toolkit is organised

Universal access and service efficiency framework

The ITU universal service financing efficiency toolkit is designed to provide a practical guide to policy-makers, regulators, and universal service fund administrators. The toolkit:

  • Unpacks the digital financing toolbox (Part A), in doing so it:
    • explains the rationale for and principles applicable to public investment;
    • discusses finance mechanisms that can be used in concert with public funding, ranging from policy and regulatory incentives to risk mitigation mechanisms and finance mechanisms;
    • discusses traditional funding models and innovative financing models, including blended financing, community network models, and next generation models (such as USAF 2.0, although there is no single model for USAF 2.0 as solutions will vary according to the country context, see also Part B) for which public funding can be used to leverage various forms of private finance.
  • Assists policy-makers, regulators and universal service fund administrators to assess the impact and performance of their digital and universal access and service (UAS) strategies (Part B).
  • Provides a roadmap to develop projects, from strategy to impact, with monitoring and evaluation in mind. This part considers projects from conceptualisation to evaluation and reporting (Part C).
  • Provides tools to support project design, funding criteria, and implementation. The implementation tools provide effective oversight of public funds related to governance, partnerships and procurement (Part C).
  • Provides a detailed guide to support the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of school connectivity programmes (Part D).

How to use the toolkit

This toolkit provides contextual information and case studies as well as practical checklists, flowcharts, and references for policy-makers, regulators and universal service fund administrators to make efficient and sustainable interventions as they navigate the complex world of UAS financing.

Every context is unique, and as such, it is important to note that this toolkit is intended to be a guide and not a blueprint. It provides advice, direction and case studies to assist policy-makers, regulators and universal service fund administrators on their journey to finance and implement their universal access mandates.