40 Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016 Box 1.20: Regulatory factors relevant for investors • Design of the legal framework: Whether the telecommunication law establishes a regulator and defines its role, scope of responsibility, accountability and market objectives.• Licensing regime: The extent to which licence obligations are transparent or come with additional burdens such as administration, reporting and fees. • Interconnection regime: Whether there is a well-designed and implemented interconnection regime that protects investors from below-cost interconnection payments from operators or unreasonable rate mandates from regulators.• Regulatory fees and taxation: Whether there are excessive fees and taxes, which can increase operating costs and discourage innovation and further investment. • Universal service funds (USF): Whether operators are obliged to contribute to USFs and have the ability to access them to fund investment in cases of market failure.• Competition policy: The regulators’ effectiveness in protecting new operators against the abuse of market power from existing dominant operators, and in promoting fair competition through non-discriminatory, wholesale, open access to dominant operator infrastructure.• Tariff regulation: The ability of the regulator to implement tariff regulation in developing regions or in the provision of services where there is ineffective competition.• Spectrum management: Whether scarce spectrum is over-priced and overburdened with coverage obligations, thereby decreasing the operators’ available capital to invest in infrastructure.