Deployment of high-speed broadband infrastructures during the economic crisis. The case of Xarxa Oberta.

JUAN JOSÉ GANUZA; MARÍA FERNANDA VIECENS

TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 35 p. 857 - 870

0308-5961

The deployment of fibre based Next Generation Access Networks (NGANs) entails a crisis dilemma. During crisis, public administrations are eager to actively impulse investment in NGANs since the deployment of these networks may increase productivity in the long run and promote economic recovery in the short run. However, the crisis has reduced the access to the credit market and has increased the fiscal deficit. Consequently, the resources of the public sector to invest have been severely limited. Thus, it is crucial to analyse how the public investment plans in NGANs should be designed and implemented during bad times, under scarcity of public resources. The article proposes some guidelines for the design and implementation of effective andaffordable public projects for the deployment of NGANs. These guidelines are illustrated by discussing the Xarxa Oberta case, a project for the deployment of a NGAN in Catalonia (Spain).