Mobile Broadband Strategies: Comparing Policy Issues and Research Challenges in Developed and Developing Countries

The intelligent mobile phone has become the most widely used communications device globally and the access device of choice in the developing world. In countries like India it is often the only available device for accessing the Internet and its large variety of associated services. Spectrum is the lifeblood of mobile communications services. As broadband mobile Internet access becomes more readily available, affordable and the new norm, smartphones and other mobile devices are being used widely for a host of business and personal applications, including communications (e.g. WhatsApp), information services, transactional services and electronic payments (e.g. Mobile E-Wallets). The demand for additional spectrum bandwidth is likely to increase rapidly and outstrip the supply for the next few years. This international panel will focus on the impact of the widespread penetration and use of intelligent mobile devices, in both developing and developed countries. The panel will discuss issues such as: • What role does mobile broadband play in different national broadband strategies, and how is it integrated with the wireline component? • In addition to efficiently allocating and managing the use of the spectrum, what other roles can governments and regulators play in enabling the continued growth of mobile communications services? • What role can mobile broadband play in the delivery and use of a wide variety of digital information and transactional services, including electronic payments? • Last but not least, what is the role of evidence and evidence-based research in shaping current approaches? The Panellists, whose expertise covers various countries and regions, will discuss and compare strategies being used in developed countries like the US, Australia and the EU, and developing countries like Mexico, Brazil and India, among others. We wish to find out what has worked, what did not, the problems encountered and whether there are lessons to be learned that are of general applicability, as well as for particular countries. We wish to explore the possibilities and limitations of learning from other nations’ and regions’ experiences, identifying common policy challenges and medium term research requirements of interest to the TPRC community. Policy makers in developing countries traditionally deal with conventional issues related to facilitating the growth of mobile communications (e.g. spectrum availability and re-allocation; infrastructure deployment, sharing and interconnection; service pricing and availability). As mobile Internet use, combined with electronic transactions and payments, becomes the new norm, they will need to formulate new policies to address challenges related to the large scale migration of mobile users to 3G/4G/LTE broadband networks and the use of Internet-based transactional services. Panel Moderator: Dr. Prabir Neogi, Visiting Fellow, Canada-India Centre for Excellence, Carleton University, Ottawa Possible Panelists (and suggested areas of coverage): Prof. William Lehr, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), or Dr. Robert Atkinson, President TIF [U.S. developments] Prof. Eric Bohlin, Professor of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden [E.U. developments] Prof. Rekha Jain, Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Executive Chair of the IIMA-IDEA Telecom Centre of Excellence (IITCOE) [India and South-East Asia] Prof. Judith Mariscal Aviles, Professor, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economica (CIDE), Director of the Telecommunications Research Program Telecom-CIDE, and member of the Steering Committee of DIRSI, [Latin America, Mexico & Brazil] Prof. Catherine Middleton, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto [Australia, New Zealand, Canada]

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