Connections Transport & ICT Making Rural Broadband Affordable Synchronizing Installation with Other Public Works Arthur Foch The high cost of extending Internet service beyond 70-90 % urban areas and the relatively low number of potential subscribers has combined to stall the expansion of this enabling technology in much of the developing world (and even in some advanced economies). Installing cables over land by exploiting existing infrastructure to Savings when carry the line eliminates most of the construction costs Internet cable is of domestic Internet networks—but that colocation installed with other option is much less available for remote or thinly infrastructure populated areas. A way forward is to synchronize the works installation with work on other suitable infrastructure projects (transport, energy, water, gas). The developmental value of high-speed Internet and the strategy of colocating cable with transport and power corridors are well understood (see Connections Note #7 and #2016-4). The missing piece is a legal and regulatory push to ensure that cable is accommodated when private or public infrastructure is built or renovated in rural areas. With technical assistance informed by precedents in advanced economies, the international community and developing countries themselves can accelerate adoption of such policies. Why Does Coordination Matter? able broadband investment primarily to densely populated areas. Broadband (“always on”) Internet has become a powerful driver for sustainable economic growth, Governments increasingly recognize the need for job creation, and education. That is why most public intervention to reach low-density regions. developing and advanced economies have created One solution is to promote the extension of fiber- national plans that target universal accessibility of optic cable in coordination with new civil works, broadband services. Moreover, the high data capac- especially in the transport and telecom sectors. ity of a fiber-optic main line (backbone), which Coordination would make a significant difference delivers so-called ultrafast Internet service (100 in Morocco, for example. There, an estimated 40% megabits per second or more), makes it the most of the population is excluded from high-speed commercially viable technology. But the high costs Internet because telecom operators cannot profit- of installing cable without “piggy-backing” on other ably extend the service into thinly populated areas infrastructure construction (in the advanced econo- without a significant reduction in the cost of instal- mies, as much as $100,000 per mile) limits profit- lation. APRIL 2016 NOTE 2016 - 6 Advantages of Colocation Emerging Effort in Mauritania Coordinating the installation of new fiber-optic ser- In Mauritania, several public infrastructure projects vice with transport and other linear infrastructure are under way in areas not covered by fiber-optic projects has distinct advantages. networks; yet despite the negligible extra costs that would be involved, the projects do not include • It can generate significant savings because ducts required to later install fiber-optic cables. most of the cost of buried cable networks The World Bank is supporting a government effort involves trenching. there to reform infrastructure policy in a way that • Laying ducts for the future installation of would bring such projects into alignment. cable along the route of another infrastructure The approach proposed by the World Bank con- project can add less than 1% to the cost of that sidered both the French and U.S. experience. It project. would establish an interministerial working group • Coordination reduces public inconvenience to define standards, procedures, and enforcement and avoids infrastructure damage caused by mechanisms for (1) facilitating fiber-optic deploy- multiple trenching. ment during the construction phase of public • Telecom helps implement the “smart” power infrastructure projects (including the use of public grid when deployed along power lines; when funds to finance duct installation) and (2) promot- installed along roads, it aids deployment of ing information sharing by infrastructure holders ramp metering, ramp gates, traffic cameras, on existing infrastructure and ongoing or planned civil works (including development of a centralized and incident management. database). The terms proposed by the working However, cross-sector coordination is rare when it group could eventually lead to their enactment in depends on cooperative initiatives between private the national public procurement code operators. Therefore, governments must provide an enabling legal and regulatory framework (including Lessons and Recommendations standards and procedures) to facilitate such syner- Although a growing number of emerging market gies, especially for public infrastructure projects. economies are developing infrastructure-sharing Donors, including the World Bank, can provide regulations, they rarely specify standards and pro- technical assistance to help governments establish cedures for synchronizing fiber-optic deployment attractive legal and regulatory frameworks based with other infrastructure projects. Technical assis- tance to identify the most suitable legal and regula- on international best practices. tory frameworks for a particular country would speed implementation of the necessary policies. International Practice Contrasting laws and policies in the United States and France suggest the way forward in developing countries that wish to foster infrastructure coor- 1 The digital agenda for Europe is aimed at creating a single digital dination to extend fiber-optic connectivity at low market within the EU (https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en). cost. The U.S. system depends primarily on locali- ties and voluntary action, which partly explains why For more information on this topic: colocation initiatives in the United States are not U.S. executive order, June 12, 2012, www.whitehouse.gov/ widespread. In contrast, France used its legal and the-press-office/2012/06/14/executive-order-accelerating- regulatory system to establish nationwide informa- broadband-infrastructure-deployment tion-sharing obligations while providing leeway for Government of France executive order, June 28, 2010 (in negotiating parties to reach agreement. French), www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORF TEXT000022408555&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id In line with the approach taken in France and the EU Directive, May 15, 2014, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- Digital Plan for Europe,1 the European Union in content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0061 2014 established binding provisions for the coor- Natalija Gelvanovska, Michel Rogy, and Carlo Maria Rossotto, 2014, Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North dination of public infrastructure projects through Africa: Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access, Washington, national legislation in every EU member state. DC: World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/1668 Connections is a weekly series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy Vandycke and Shokraneh Minovi. The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections. APRIL 2016 NOTE 2016 - 6