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ICT 5: Driving demand - Accelerating adoption: Regulator’s role. Daniel Rosenne Chairman, Tadiran Telecom Communications Services, Israel October 7 th , 2009. Regulation plays key role: setting environment and conditions driving demand and accelerating adoption.
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ICT 5: Driving demand - Accelerating adoption: Regulator’s role Daniel Rosenne Chairman, Tadiran Telecom Communications Services, Israel October 7th, 2009
Regulation plays key role: setting environment and conditions driving demand and accelerating adoption • Telecom regulation key role: free market forces • Allowing for innovation, supporting adoption, removing obstacles • How to achieve this goal? • Harness market power of dominant players • Reduce entry barriers for new competitors • Assure level playing field • What are the critical issues? • Interconnection • Open access • Net neutrality
Interconnection is Key: creating “Network of Networks” • Major regulatory challenge: • Assuring non-discrimination and fairness • Preventing abuse of market dominance • Promoting competition • Avoiding discrimination • Assuring transparency • Professor Noam, 2001: • “The regulation of interconnection is therefore becoming the paramount tool of government into the reasonably foreseeable future, replacing the regulation of telecommunications retail pricing, the rate of return, or competitors’ entry. • It provides government with a tool for extensive micromanagement of markets” MIT Press, 2001
Open Access is essential:Enabling value added service providers to utilize public networks without discrimination • Essential for promoting competition: • Small, agile, innovative and hungry for business value added service providers are the main innovators of new ideas and services • Pat Longstaff, 2002: Policymakers double voice: • “Policymakers in every country have generally been unable to decide if they want the communications sector, and the industries and firms in it, to move towards concentration or toward diversity… • Although most governments embrace diversity to promote competition, they are nevertheless willing to allow concentration if that would enable companies to survive a competition they are in danger of losing” MIT Press, 2002
Network Neutrality • Net neutrality refers to a network open to carry every form of information and support every kind of application • Net neutrality deals with a central concern, the power held by access providers - wireline, cable and wireless providers - to select, price or differentiate among Internet information streams passing through their networks • Enforcement of net neutrality is considered essential for achieving telecom competition and market development
Israel - a “case in point” • Broadband - the merits of pro-competitive measures • Structural separation enforced 2001 – assuring open access and net neutrality • Results: extremely high growth and adoption rate • Mobile - the pitfalls of “hands-off” regulation: • Mobile service providers enjoy high degree of freedom • Results: extremely low mobile non-voice revenues
Israel's Telecommunications • 7.4 m pop, 1.7m households, US$ 27,200 GDP/capita • 3.2 million main telephone lines (43% penetration) • Bezeq: 2.6m subscribers • HOT (cable): 0.5 m subscribers • VoB: 0.1 subscribers • 9.3 million wireless customers, on 4 networks (126% penetration) • 35% with broadband capability • 1.5 million households connected to multichannel subscriber television (88% of households): • HOT (cable): 0.9m subscribers, • Out of these: 0.4 subscribe to VOD services • Yes (satellite): 0.6m subscribers • 1.7 million broadband Internet connections • Bezeq (ADSL): 1m • HOT (cable modem): 0.76m
Israeli Example: Broadband InternetEnforcing open access & net neutrality led to enormous growth Since 2001, Bezeq and HOT adhere to “structural separation” rules, are allowed to provide access services only, to Internet service providers, assuring open access and net neutrality Total ADSL Cable Modem
Israeli Example: Mobile Wireless Non-Voice servicesCould it be that discriminatory practices delay adoption of new services? • Israel is well suited for growth in non-voice mobile wireless services: • Relatively wealthy country (~$20K GDP/cap,~$27K) • Technology literate • High mobile penetration, extremely high usage • However, non voice revenues are rather low Non voice revenues [%] ARPU [US$] Wireless penetration [%] Source: Bank of America Securities Merrill Lynch Global Wireless Matrix 2Q09
Conclusions • Competition is essential for high adoption rate for new services • Only competition can reduces prices and create market innovation and agility • Regulators have a critical role - free market forces: • Cost based interconnect regime • Open access • Net neutrality • The Israeli experience demonstrates the effects of regulatory measures on the demand and adoption rate of new services
The End Thanks for your attention