Global Broadband Benchmarking 2013: Best Practice Lessons for Governments

By Martyn Roetter ♦ Is there a “one size fits all” set of international best practices for broadband policy? No, argues Martyn Roetter, because local circumstances are far too diverse. However, he says that there are many useful lessons to be drawn from experiences in different parts of the world. He reviews successful broadband projects in fifteen countries from five regions: Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Based on these examples, and acknowledging their differences, Mr. Roetter distills common characteristics of successful (and unsuccessful) broadband policies in the areas of public-private partnerships, public funding of broadband, effectively competitive markets, spectrum management, and the role of government intervention. Ultimately, he concludes that the roles of government and the private sector must be complementary.