5.3.6.7 Accessibility standards for persons with disabilities According to the World Report on Disability, produced jointly by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, more than 1 billion people in the world today experience disability in one form or another.56 This statistic represents about one-seventh of the earth’s inhabitants. As of September 2015, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) had 159 signatories and 157 parties, making the Convention the fastest-negotiated human rights treaty in the history of the UN.57 Article 9 of this Convention articulates the need to ensure access to ICTs, including the Internet, for persons with disabilities. This commitment gains a new prominence in the context of emerging m-services and applications and their linkage to services such as health, education and banking. The mobile apps trend underlines the need for a policy priority to enable people with disabilities to overcome ICT access barriers and to build-in accessibility as a feature of networks, systems and policies.58 Implementation of the CRPD treaty commitments at the national level will entail articulating domestic public policies to achieve minimum accessibility standards and guidelines for services provided to the public.59 It will also lead to development of accessibility and assistive-technology standards for mobile products and services, ensuring greater interoperability in order to increase the availability of cheaper assistive technologies, products and services.5.3.7 Infrastructure sharing The reach of an MNO network has in the past largely determined its profitability and even its market dominance. Not surprisingly, then, incumbent operators have often resisted efforts to encourage infrastructure-sharing and maintained efforts to keep their competitive advantage over newer entrants. But preserving infrastructure silos means that some consumers cannot access m-services and apps not hosted on their service providers’ networks. One of the innovative regulatory approaches to address this would be to mandate infrastructure-sharing as a way to broaden the geographical reach of MNO networks and in this way enlarge the platform on which m-services and apps can ride. This innovative approach would resonate particularly in the developing world, as it would enable m-services and apps to reach remote and uneconomical areas faster. It would also enable the implementation of national broadband plans and network upgrades. In this way, ICT infrastructure would be optimized as a utility for provision of m-services and apps by all sectors such as education, health, sport, transport and agricultural support.60 5.3.8 Trust and confidence A lack of trust and confidence can act as a major barrier to growth in a data-driven economy. Regulators should instigate an increase in consumer protection by encouraging MNOs to enhance the security of their networks through adoption of encryption technologies. This is a critical requirement to ensure that sensitive data being transferred over the network (for example, mobile payments) is transmitted securely and seamlessly.61 Robust security measures are, therefore, critical for the whole value chain, including device and chip manufacturers as well as software vendors. Reducing vulnerabilities in devices, applications and web services should be a priority for everyone in the digital ecosystem.62 Trust and confidence in ICT security and privacy is recognized as one of the main pillars of the Information Society.63 More and more, regulators are being called upon to respond to numerous public security concerns or “mobile menaces” involving serious crimes -- kidnapping, terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering -- committed using mobile phones. This calls for regulatory action to preserve the integrity and reputation of mobile services as safe for society and consumers to use. Kenya, for example, dealt with such concerns through legislation mandating that MNOs keep details of individuals who subscribe to their services.64 In this light, the development of comprehensive privacy and data-protection legislation at the domestic level becomes vital, and regulators should play a key role in shaping this going forward. The security and privacy of peoples’ personal information, however, remains a Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016 137 Chapter 5