Wholl Win Out – Government Intervention Or Private Enterprise for Telecom Infrastructure?
In nations with a clear digital divide, especially urban / rural, should governments intervene with support mechanisms (funding, tax breaks, direct ownership, PPP’s, or anything else) or take a hands-off approach and leave it to private enterprise? It appears today that the impact of telecom infrastructure, especially broadband and mobile coverage, on the economy is now widely known (though I still think the definitive study on the topic is yet to come). So, even beyond the digital divide issue, local governments are legitimately worried that their territory will become less and less attractive if the digital resources aren’t there. Inversely, they think that they can boost their attractivity (and therefore their economy) with telecom infrastructure. Seen in this context, it makes sense that local governments would want to invest in such infrastructure, and in the FTTH area we are seeing more and more examples of this approach in Europe (Pau, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Cologne, Hauts de Sei
