Abstract
The milestone of one billion people with access to the Internet was reached in
late 2005 according to the firm eMarketer. Nearly a quarter of these had
broadband access, enabling them to surf the Internet, download large
quantities of data and engage in interactive sessions over the Internet. That
implies that over 5.5 billion people still do not have access to the Internet.
Governments and national regulatory authorities (NRAs) round the world are
attempting to mitigate the 'Digital Divide' that has developed between those
businesses and consumers that have access to the Internet, and those that do
not. These actions are focusing around the rollout of broadband services.
Narrowband dial-up is no longer sufficient to provide access to the enormous
volume of rich multimedia content that is now available on the Internet.
Government incentives, regulatory intervention and/or competition are required
to stimulate broadband rollout. In most countries the incumbent owns the
access network, or 'local loop', that connects the customer premises (home or
office) to the public telephone network. There is limited competition in
access infrastructure available from cable operators, and as yet very little
from wireless and satellite service providers. Hence, any other service
provider that wants to provide broadband access is obliged to rent a wholesale
broadband access service from the local loop infrastructure owner, usually the
incumbent.
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