Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2010-11 new challenges for regulators and policymakers.13 IP-enabled services and applications delivered by broadband networks will propel the digital economy in the next decade. For example, in only five years You- Tube surpassed the two billion views a day milestone on a global basis. YouTube reports this is nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major free over-the- The promotion of ICT take-up in the next decade will continue to require enabling ICT regulatory environ-ments. Policies will have to target the root of the large disparities in Internet use between developing and de-veloped countries and, particularly, the deployment of air television networks in the United States com-bined. broadband, as well as dealing with the issues raised by the new technologies and applications. As discussed below, policymakers are presently adopting a mixed approach that features a blend of targeted ex ante reg-ulations 10 Similarly, if VoIP leader Skype were classified as a telecommunications carrier, it would be the largest “carrier” in the world based on registered users, con-trolling aimed at fostering investment and deployment 12 per cent of world-wide international long distance traffic11 (see Figure 3.4). of networks and services and ex post rules to address anticompetitive conduct as technology and services converge. 3.3 Trends in ICT Regulation At the same time, social networking sites are be-coming more and more popular in both developed and developing countries. In fact, 15 out of the top 30 coun-tries by number of Facebook users are developing As ICT markets become more competitive, regula-tors are beginning to transition from ex ante to ex post countries (see Figure 3.5). Chile, for example, has a comparable number of Facebook users as a percentage of the population as more developed economies like Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, while Ar-gentina, regulation. This is particularly true in the case of broad-band markets, where the various links in the value chain may be subject to different degrees of competi-tive Colombia, Turkey and Venezuela also have rel-atively high usage. In addition, Facebook has expanded pressure. In promoting access to and adoption of ICTs, policymakers must consider whether to: 1) estab-lish its focus, offering a wider range of services -- from communicating personal messages and “status updates” to exchanging content to gaming – which provides a broad user experience inside its pages. However, this expansion begins to raise a series of new regulatory is-sues sector-specific, forward-looking regulation (ex ante regulation) to prevent or promote certain activities, or 2) establish or rely on competition law to remedy spe-cific instances of anti-competitive behaviour (ex post regulation). Due to the fast pace of technological ad-vances (e.g., relating to data protection and privacy), and and an increasing recognition of the value of ro-bust competition, policymakers increasingly have may subject such social networking sites to increased regulatory scrutiny, as is the case in the United States, Canada, and Europe.12 implemented ex post rules to foster innovative markets while imposing targeted ex ante regulation to address specific market failures, particularly with respect to the physical layer of the broadband ecosystem. This ICT-enabled environment also features stake-holders with global reach, a factor that presents poten-tial Figure 3.4: Top five mobile carriers by subscribers compared to Skype registered users (1Q 2010) 600 560 500 539 400 Millions 300 333 200 206 206 179 100 0 China Mobile Vodafone* Telefónica América Telenor Skype* Móvil Note: * Figures refer to 4Q 2009 Source: Company reports, Telegeography, Morgan Stanley Chapter 3 89