Facts and Views Collected from National Transport Experts

1. Joint Session of Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway Steering Group Meeting and Seventh Meeting of the Working Group on the Asian Highway Network Agenda Item 4. Discussion on opportunities and challenges relating to codeployingfibre optic cable along the Asian Highway network Facts and Views Collected from National Transport Experts Yuwei Li, Director, Transport Division Bangkok, 13 December 2017

2. Concepts 1) Cohabitation - state of living together Cohabitation of fibre optic cable along road – state of fibre optic cable along road using land acquired for road rather than construction of road along fibre optic cable. 2) Codeployment – joint (mutual or common) placement Codeployment of fibre optic cable along road – placement of fibre optic cable along road using land acquired for road by ICT sector, by road sector, or jointly by ICT and road sectors

3. Cohabitation or Codeployment… … a long-time practice

4. … for rail

5. … and for road

6. A long tradition of coupling facilities and services with roads then now

7. What you have under/along/over roads • Electricity cable • Water supply pipeline • Sewage/drainage • Heating supply pipeline • Gas pipeline • Oil pipeline • ICT cable (fibre optic, telephone, …) • Subway/light rail trains • Residence building/hotel/office • Shop/shopping mall/market/restaurant/entertainment • Gas station • Hospital/school/park • Factory/farm • ……

8. A long tradition of coupling facilities and services with roads Anywhere, …(sometimes) anyhow

9. However, things can go wrong then

10. However, things can go wrong …and now

11. However, things can go wrong …and now

12. Example cases from national transport experts Originally codeployed fibre optic cables along a road in a city was installed hundres cables by 200 companies, which hooked a bus and hit people on the road A loose fibre optic cable stood in the middle of road and broke car windows and hurt people in cars Fire from fibre optic cables burned high voltage electricity cables and caused fire around the road junction A fibre optic cable with low vertical clearance hooked a standard truck, which caused falling of ten poles on road and traffic accident Road repair broke a fibre optic cable due to changed topography, caused halt of services including digital banking, resulted in a large amount of payment by road China Tietong Telecom, established in 2000, separated from railway in 2004 due to mixed public/commercial functions, merged to China Mobile in 2008 due to market pressure (2% share), safety and security issues China expressway, built duct for ICT cables at request, no use after construction, now has to run ICT service to avoid waste of investment

13. Challenges Most overwhelming challenge Numerous companies deploy fibre optic cables along roads without observing national legislation and technical standards, which causes tragedies of safety and security, and halt of normal traffic

14. Challenges Specific issues 1) Construction digging is disruptive to traffic problem of restoration of pavements to original condition difficulties coordinating requests from different operators (different business plans, construction schedules resulting in constant digging frustrating transport infrastructure users)

15. Challenges Specific issues 2) Operation cost is the public right-of-way a revenue opportunity? does occupancy of public property cause costs (other than restoration of infrastructure to original state) that need to be recovered through monthly charges? (if so, on what basis?) does not charging a “for-profit” communication company occupancy for occupancy constitute a subsidy? if the owner of the transport infrastructure also becomes a “for-profit” communication operator, can issues of unfair competition arise vis-à-vis new entrants?

16. Challenges Specific issues 3) Network integrity how to protect ICT cables? / who is responsible? / legal framework? Construction /digging is likely the biggest cause of damage to buried cables. Backhoes, post-hole augers and even hand shovels can all bring network traffic to a halt by severing fibre optic cable. April 2012 – Hong Kong – 3 fiber cable routings damaged by boring machine during road work along Hung Hing Road. 4,000 residential broadband customers affected. April 2011 – Georgia – elderly woman saws internet cable. 90% of private and corporate users in Armenia lost access for nearly 12 hours.

17. Challenges Specific issues 4) Development process which entity has jurisdiction to grant access to public rights-of-way? which entity is responsible for settling disputes? what other legislation may be relevant while serving other purposes ? (environmental protection / preservation of historic sites) coordination between different public authorities (‘one-stop shop’ to avoid delays, cost overruns, guarantee accuracy/transparency of information)

18. Challenges Specific issues 5) Cross-border deployment of fibre optic cables Beyond authority and capacity of transport a) a security issue for appropriate ministries to rule and agree first b) a market access issue for ICT ministries, industry / operators to agree c) a technical issue of standards/compatibility for ICT industry / operators to solve

19. Voice from national transport experts No need to promote or encourage cohabitation/codeployment Communication operators have no difficulty of access to roads for deploying/codeploying cables which have been practiced for decades. Huge tangible benefits and convenience attract all types of cables, pipelines, facilities, services to roads. People’s safety, security and access are the highest priorities for the road sector. Suggestion Investigate cohabitation/codeployment along roads and seek views of road officials, engineers, planners, transport operators and drivers to identify key challenges and propose initiatives accordingly.

20. Opportunities Way forward • regional study reviewing all technical / legal / institutional complexities with participation of experts in different sectors, site visits to different countries, interviews of all stakeholders at site/local/national/ subregional/regional levels, consultation of stakeholders at different levels • Guidelines to assist member countries in successfully and seamlessly deploying fibre optic cables along transport infrastructure

21. Thank you