Aurora A. RubioHead, ITU Area Office for South East Asia

aurora.rubio@itu.int

Workshop on Developing National ICT Strategies,Policies and Regulations

Vientiane, Lao PDR, 14 Dec 2016

Presentation Outline

1. Policies, Regulations and Strategies

2. Linkages to National Vision, Mission and Targets

3. The need for Accurate and Up-to-date ICT Data and Statistics

4. Identifying and Involving Stakeholders

5. Emerging Thinking on Regulation in the New Economy

6. Conclusions

National Development Plan and Sector Development Plan

The Law on the Government of Lao PDR requires, among others, “to map outstrategic plans for socio-economic development and the fiscal year and submitthem to the National Assembly for consideration and approval”

VISION 2030Based on national characteristics and situation as well as the international environment and the national development priorities, theVision until 2030 consists of the following:Lao PDR is ranked as a developing country with upper-middle income and with innovative, green and sustainable economicgrowth; there is availability of industrial pillars and a strong basic infrastructure system to support industrialization andmodernization; the country systematically follows a socialist market economy; there is social justice, peace and order; people’slivelihoods are improved and solidarity promoted; there are improved development disparities between urban and rural areas;there is improved human development that ensures all have access to quality social services; people’s rights are protected under theeffective rule of law, the administrative system is enhanced by following the 3-builds directive; there is environmental protection throughefficient utilization of the natural resources to ensure sustainability; there is political stability and strength; the country is actively movingtoward regional and international integration.

Vision 3030 and 10-year Socio Economic Development Strategies

http://www.la.one.un.org/images/publications/8th_NSEDP_2016-2020.pdf.Also see p, 152 on ICT Targets

How about the Cross Sectoral Role of ICT in Socio Economic Development ?

NationalSocio-Economic

Development Plan /Nation’sVision

NationalTelecommunicationDevelopment Plan

SituationalAnalysis

TargetsImplementation

Strategies• Legal, Policy and Regulation• Technical• Financial• Human Capacity and Other

Resources• Others

SectorVision

Monitoring and Review

Sector Strategy Planning

High Level

• Sector Specific• Supports the

Nation’s Vision

Policy and regulationDesigning an effective policy and regulatory framework involves addressing

some fundamental questions

Who Regulates?ICT / Competition / Data

Protection Regulator

Who to Regulate?Telcos, ICT ServiceProviders

Where?National, Regional or

International levelHow?

Light touch,self- regulation

When?Ex ante or Ex Poste

What?Pricing, QoS,

Spectrum

Policy and regulationNational Governments elect to regulate their telecommunication sectors to serve

particular purposes that would not otherwise be satisfied

Source: ITU ICT Regulatory Toolkit : http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/home

Effective and Independent Regulator

The rationale for establishing independent, regulatory institutions is based onensuring non-discriminatory treatment of all players in the liberalized market.

Addressing non-discrimination involves building confidence in and thelegitimacy of an “independent” regulatory institution. The central issue isestablishing a functioning, enabling environment consisting of the regulator(s)and regulations that will attract sufficient and sustainable investment tosatisfy existing demand, expand supply and introduce new services.Independence stimulates investor confidence and reduces regulatory risk.

Independence, transparency of the regulatory process and regulatory policiesthat encourage competition are factors that influence the level of investmentin ICTs. An effective regulator results in less regulatory risk and increases thelikelihood of investment in the sector.

Source: ITU ICT Regulatory Toolkit : http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/home

Policy and regulationThere are two generic forms of regulation Ex Ante (Before the Event) and Ex Post(After the Fact). Most countries adopt a mixture of these approaches.

Ex Ante Regulation• Ex ante regulation is anticipatory intervention. Ex ante regulation uses government-

specified controls to:- Prevent socially undesirable actions or outcomes in markets, or- Direct market activity towards socially desirable ends.

• Ex ante regulation is mainly concerned with market structure, i.e. the number of firmsand level of market concentration, entry conditions, and the degree of productdifferentiation.

• Ex ante regulation often takes the form of sector- specific regulation.

•Ex Post Regulation• Ex post regulation addresses specific allegations of anti-competitive behavior or

market abuse. Ex post regulation aims to redress proven misconduct through a rangeof enforcement options including fines, injunctions, or bans.

• Ex post regulation is mainly concerned with market conduct — the behavior of a firmwith respect to both its competitors and its customers.

• Ex post regulation often takes the form of competition laws.

Source: ITU ICT Regulatory Toolkit : http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/home

Policy and regulationMarket reforms in the communication sector were initially driven by the introductionof competition.

Structure

Highest Level ofGovernment

Independent Agenciesof Government

Government andPrivate sector

Policy

Regulation

Operations

Focus

Introduction ofcompetition

Market Supervision-interconnection

- fair trading- pricing, etc.

Better and cheaperservices

Policy and regulationMarket reforms are increasingly driven by performance

Structure

Highest Level ofGovernment

Independent Agenciesof Government

Government andPrivate sector

Policy

Regulation

Operations

Development

Focus

Digital societies

Marketperformance

Marketsupervision

Innovation andadoption

Policy and regulationIn some countries, the role of the industry regulator has also evolved from“umpire” to “coach”.

Regulation Development

Character:

Objective:

Functions:

“Umpire”

Market supervision, ensuring faircompetition

• Operator licensing• Interconnection• Controlling and monitoring prices• Fair trading• Industry standards• Spectrum allocation andmanagement

“Coach”

Improving sector performance,digital inclusion

• Consumer education andawareness• ICT research• eGovernment implementation• Business assistance• Community support

Policy and regulationClear delineation of responsibilities is necessary in order to minimise instancesof shared or conflicting responsibility, however, such instances are inevitable.

Ministry / Department

Policy framework

Compliance andmonitoring

Anti-competitiveconduct

Codedevelopment and

consultation

Sector regulator

Competition authority

Industry groups

Policy and regulationPrinciples of effective regulation apply generally across multiple economic sectors.

Accountability• independent regulation needs to take place within a framework of duties and policies set by a

Parliament and Government• roles and responsibilities between Government and regulators should be allocated in such a way

as to ensure that regulatory decisions are taken by the body that has the legitimacy, expertiseand capability to arbitrate between the required trade-offs

• decision-making powers of regulators should be, within the constraints imposed by the need topreserve commercial confidentiality, exercised transparently and subject to appropriate scrutinyand challenge

• statutes of the regulator that clearly specify the duties, responsibilities, rights and obligations ofthe regulator including the rules for removal of the regulator should be published

• decisions of the regulator are subject to review by the courts or some other non-political entityalthough some “threshold” should be established to deter frivolous challenges that simply delaythe implementation of decisions

Focus• the role of regulators should be concentrated on protecting the interests of end users of

infrastructure services by ensuring the operation of well-functioning and contestable marketswhere appropriate or by designing a system of incentives and penalties that replicate as far aspossible the outcomes of competitive markets.

• regulators should have clearly defined, articulated and prioritised statutory responsibilitiesfocused on outcomes rather than specified inputs or tools

Policy and regulationPredictability• the framework for regulation should provide a stable and objective environment enabling all

those affected to anticipate the context for future decisions and to make long term investmentdecisions with confidence

• the framework of regulation should not unreasonably unravel past decisions, and should allowefficient and necessary investments to receive a reasonable return, subject to the normal risksinherent in markets

Coherence• regulatory frameworks should form a logical part of the Government’s broader policy context,

consistent with established priorities• regulatory frameworks should enable cross-sector delivery of policy goals where appropriate

Adaptability• the framework of regulation needs capacity to evolve to respond to changing circumstances

and continue to be relevant and effective over time

Efficiency• policy interventions must be proportionate and cost-effective while decision making should be

timely, and robust

Source: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK Government

Public Consultation ProcessesWhy Public Consultations?

To promote two important regulatory objectives:• they provide the regulator with valuable input from industry members and other stakeholders.

Public consultations therefore help regulators to make informed decisions.• public consultations help to foster a transparent regulatory environment.

Public Consultation Processes

• One common practice is to communicate important information about the public consultation to stakeholders at allstages of the consultation. This not only improves the transparency of the process, but also increases thelikelihood of participation of stakeholders in the process by keeping stakeholders well informed about theconsultation.

• Example: a note about the public consultation concerning mobile licensing was placed on the main page of theJordanian regulator under “New”. This note contains a link to another webpage where the Notice of PublicConsultation is posted, along with a number of other related documents.

• A public consultation is an on-going process. During the course of the consultation, it may become necessary toissue additional documents to clarify matters or to provide further information about one or more of the issues. Insome public consultations, the regulator may include procedures for submitting clarifying questions.

• A practice that promotes the regulatory objectives associated with public consultations is to facilitate the ability ofstakeholders to participate in the consultation process.

• In some cases, regulators may hold a public hearing or meeting to discuss the issues raised in the publicconsultation (Press release or info in web page containing a link for on-line registration and documents for the forum

• Important is the follow-up taken by the regulator after the deadline for filing comments has passed. A reportshould be published on the public consultation that summarizes the submissions received during theconsultation and that sets out the regulator’s determinations about the matters raised in the consultation. Such areport provides certainty about the regulatory direction that will be taken on the matters raised in the publicconsultation, as well as bolsters the transparency of the process through which determinations are made