interests, while also ensuring a level-playing field for traditional and new market players by fostering a light touch regulatory approach.The interaction of the ICT sector for stimulating growth in the digital economy alongside other sectors needs to be understood and, wherever possible, managed by policy and regulatory frameworks of a new kind. To empower regulators and policy makers to do so, ITU has developed the ICT Regulatory Tracker, a new evidence-based analytical tool to help pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of regulatory interventions. Analysis based on the Tracker clearly suggests that growth in services has happened most rapidly where regulatory enablers have been put in place to leverage latest technologies and innovations. In a nutshell, consistent, forward-looking and well-enforced, fourth-generation regulation generally provides for a vibrant market and win-win opportunities for both service providers and consumers.The choice of regulatory intervention appears to have an equally strong impact on stirring up market growth. More precisely, the ITU Regulatory Tracker has shown that the combination of a handful of regulatory measures is closely associated with a catalytic effect on market take-up. With respect to mobile-broadband penetration, countries with a broadband plan, competition in both the mobile sector and international gateways, infrastructure sharing, mobile number portability and band migration, systematically outperform countries lacking some or all of those regulatory settings. Fixed broadband markets seem to have their “winning formula”, too. The top-five measures on record are a Broadband Plan, open competition in wireline broadband technologies, an advanced licensing framework (featuring either unified licenses or a general authorization regime) combined with an infrastructure sharing policy and provisions for fixed number portability.New econometric research by ITU further suggests that a 10 per cent increase in the ICT Regulatory Tracker score (corresponding to an incremental enhancement of regulatory frameworks) is associated with an increase of respectively 7.7 per cent in fixed-broadband penetration and 2.3 per cent in mobile-cellular penetration over the period 2008-2013. This evidence provides new grounds for informed policy-making and better targeted regulatory intervention. Chapter 2: Why Competition Matters and How to Foster It in the Dynamic ICT Sector The ICT sector has been rapidly evolving over the last few decades, creating an emerging broadband-centric environment that has presented regulators with varying and complex challenges. While traditional competition issues persist, new obstacles deriving from the entry of new entrants with new business models and alternative costs structures, coupled with the convergence of services and a rapid increase in the flow of data across the globe, have placed a tremendous burden on old revenue streams and long-standing regulatory regimes. Consequently, regulators and policymakers have been forced to adapt to reduce barriers to competition and protect consumer interests. This paper focuses on these concerns and offers practical case-study examples of several approaches regulators and policymakers have taken to devise a framework to promote competition and consumer choice. To protect and promote competition in this new world, regulators and policymakers have adopted key reform efforts to address the various challenges. For one, liberalized licensing measures have created a more streamlined process for new competitors to enter the market. To help ease market entry, some countries have imposed access obligations requiring operators with significant marker power (SMP) to grant competitors access to their network elements at cost-based rates and on non-discriminatory terms. Other countries are creating wholesale broadband networks to supply backbone or even access services to retail service providers. As countries seek to expand competition and extend networks to areas that are unserved, or underserved, approaches that require competing companies to share basic infrastructure are being adopted. However, regulators are finding that the benefits of faster deployment and lower costs can outweigh the risks of potential collusion or other anti-competitive concerns. Spectrum sharing goes a step further by combining x Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2015