Person:
Rossotto, Carlo Maria
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
ICT,
Broadband,
Telecommunications
Degrees
External Links
Departments
Global Practice on Transport and ICT, The World Bank
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Carlo Maria Rossotto is a Lead ICT Policy Specialist in the Transport and ICT Global Practice and is the ICT Regional Coordinator for the ECA and MENA regions. He joined the World Bank in 1998 after having worked for several leading private sector firms and institutions in Europe on telecommunications, media and information technology. Carlo has a global experience in the area of broadband development, and has authored several publications in this area, including the “Broadband Strategies Toolkit,” and “Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa: Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access.”
Publication Search Results
1 - 10 of 14
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Publication
Competition in International Voice Communications
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004)This paper presents the case that opening international voice communication to competition is key to reform the telecommunications sector, is sustainable in developing countries, and results in major gains to consumers, businesses, and to the economy. Over the last 20 years full competition became a dominant attribute in virtually all high-income countries and in selected developing countries. Three forces were behind competition: globalization, technological change, and the emergence of international telecommunications as an enabler for integration and trade. -
Publication
Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa : Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-01-29)Just as the steam engine was the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution, broadband Internet is today seen as critical to the transition to knowledge-intensive economies across the world. As a general purpose technology, broadband Internet is considered as a fundamental driver of economic growth and social development, releasing the innovative potential and energy of previously disenfranchised members of the population. Many of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) now recognize that broadband Internet is crucial to their efforts to reduce poverty and create job opportunities, especially for their young populations and for women. The report re-emphasizes the important contribution that broadband Internet can make and assesses the status of existing infrastructure in at least 18 MENA countries. While there is significant potential across the region, however, the take-up of broadband Internet has been slow, and the price of broadband service is high in many countries. In large part, this stems from market structures that, too often, reflect the past when telecommunications were treated as a monopoly utility service. The report finds that there are gaps in infrastructure regionally with no connectivity between neighboring countries in some cases. Similarly, there are gaps within countries exacerbating the (digital) divide between rural and urban areas. The report examines the regulatory and market bottlenecks that are hampering the growth of the Internet in these and other MENA countries: the five North African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia); the six Mashreq countries (the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza economy); the six Gulf countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates); and Djibouti and the Republic of Yemen. The report provides policy and regulatory options for increasing effective use of existing fixed and mobile infrastructure as well as alternative infrastructure networks such as power grids and railroads. It explains the benefits of effective cross-sector infrastructure construction frameworks, highlighting the need to adjust market structures to foster competitive behavior among service providers to bring down prices and stimulate the demand for value-added services to drive future broadband development. -
Publication
Cairo Transport App Challenge : Leveraging ICT Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation to Solve Daily Challenges
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-03)There is a momentum in Egypt for a critical assessment of pressing development challenges in the aftermath of dramatic political shifts in the country. This change is fueling demand for new, more open and innovative approaches, offering an opportunity for policy-makers to develop information and communications technology (ICT) enabled interventions to address the country's issues in the urban and transport sectors. There is also a pressing need to support the efforts of the public and private sector to develop ICT skills and professional networks for entrepreneurship and employment, especially in light of the high youth unemployment and underemployment in ICT. ICT can even reach those at the bottom of the pyramid given almost ubiquitous access to mobile networks and increasing access to mobile broadband and cheaper smart phones. Such ICT tools offer an opportunity to collect feedback and data from citizens and more closely involve them and their views in development and public decision-making. -
Publication
Broadband in Russia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-01)It is widely recognized that broadband is of fundamental importance to the social and economic development of a nation. The focus of the paper is on infrastructure-related actions; measures to stimulate demand for broadband are, therefore, only marginally addressed. This paper aims to provide a platform for debate with the Russian counterparts in the sector, and to discuss the measures needed to develop broadband in support of actions aimed at economic growth. This paper examines the broadband market in Russia and preconditions for its sustainable development. It begins by presenting arguments demonstrating the importance of broadband to the overall economic development of Russia, including from the perspective of diversification of the economy and new job creation. The paper benchmarks Russia s broadband performance with Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) comparators, as well as with other nations leading the way in broadband diffusion. The paper takes stock of the existing broadband market structure in Russia and its main players as they stand today, including the regulatory and legal environment of the market for both fixed and mobile broadband. Finally, the paper provides a set of recommendations that addresses the issue of sustainability in Russian broadband delivery, and how it can continue its acceleration in the years to come. -
Publication
Key Pathways to High-Speed Internet in the Middle East and North Africa: Spurring Competition and Building New Networks
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-03)Most countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are falling behind in their quest to develop high-speed Internet for rapid socioeconomic development. Despite young adults’ rising use of social networking tools and solid progress in a few countries, most of the region’s Internet remains hobbled by monopolized, inadequate infrastructure; weak investment incentives; and high costs. High-speed (broadband) Internet can drive economic and social transformations. To realize that potential, a recent World Bank study finds that MENA countries must pursue a three-pronged approach: reduce costs by fully liberalizing access to the existing Internet infrastructure; support the resulting competition with independent national regulators working within a harmonized regional framework of regulation; and promote investments in new fiber-optic networks and other ultrafast broadband infrastructure (including Long-Term Evolution or LTE) alongside existing technologies. With these measures, plus aggressive strategies for sharing public works infrastructure and subsidies for rural access, MENA can leapfrog its current information and communication bottlenecks. -
Publication
Broadband Strategies Handbook
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-03-16)The handbook consists of seven chapters and two appendixes that look at how broadband is defined, why it is important, and how its development can be encouraged. Throughout the handbook, broadband is viewed as an ecosystem consisting of supply and demand components, both of which are equally important if the expansion of broadband networks and services is to be successful. In addressing the challenges and opportunities to which broadband gives rise, the handbook discusses the policies and strategies that government officials and others should consider when developing broadband plans, including what legal and regulatory issues to address, what broadband technologies to choose, how to facilitate universal broadband access, and how to generate demand for broadband services and applications. Chapter one, 'building broadband,' introduces the concepts of broadband by defining the term 'broadband' more conventionally (that is, speed or functionality) as well as explaining how this handbook seeks to define the term as broadband comes to be seen as an enabling platform. Chapter two, 'policy approaches to promoting broadband development,' identifies the issues that governments and the private sector will face when developing policies and programs to support broadband development. Chapter three, 'law and regulation in a broadband world,' discusses the key policies and regulatory trends that policy makers and regulators are considering to foster broadband. Chapter four, 'extending universal broadband access and use,' discusses what roles governments should play in promoting universal broadband access when market mechanisms do not meet goals for broadband access and use on their own. Chapter five, 'technologies to support deployment of broadband infrastructure,' focuses on the supply side of the broadband ecosystem. It describes the various wireline and wireless technologies now being used to build out broadband infrastructure, including examples of broadband deployments throughout the world. Chapter six, 'driving demand for broadband networks and services,' recognizes that, although supply-side issues are important, simply building networks do not guarantee that they will be used or used most effectively. Chapter seven, 'global footprints: stories from and for the developing world,' addresses the main challenges that developing countries face in deploying broadband networks, including underdeveloped infrastructure, low income, significant differences between rural and urban areas, constrained inter- and intra-modal competition, and weaknesses in regulatory and legal frameworks. -
Publication
Russia’s Ambitious Broadband Goal: Is the Progress Sustainable?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03)In 2012, the Russian Federation announced one of the world’s more ambitious broadband Internet development goals: providing 80 percent of Russian households with ultrafast connection speeds - at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2018.1 That goal exceeds the current targets in Germany and the European Union, and it is about equivalent to those currently being pursued by countries with ambitious strategic broadband connectivity goals, including Denmark, Sweden, and the United States. As part of the effort to reach its 2018 target, the Russian government recently tasked Rostelecom - a largely state-owned enterprise and the dominant firm in Russia’s broadband market - with the responsibility of connecting 4 million people (about 2.8 percent of all households) in small, widely scattered settlements throughout Russia by installing 200,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cable providing speeds of at least 10 Mbps. The assignment is both a great opportunity and a huge challenge for Rostelecom and for the entire Russian broadband sector. What can Russia do to ensure Rostelecom’s successful completion of its specific task as well as the success of the broader 2018 target? -
Publication
Enabling A Competitive Mobile Sector in Emerging Markets Through the Development of Tower Companies
(International Finance Corporation, Washington, D.C., 2021-06)Sharing mobile network infrastructure through specialized companies called towercos is a business model with the potential to accelerate access to quality mobile connectivity for individuals and businesses in emerging markets. A significant number of developing countries have yet to adopt this model, however, and many others continue to struggle with competition issues within their tower markets. This note provides the rationale and policy options for a light regulatory regime that can enable the entry and sustainable development of a dynamic market for towercos in emerging markets. The note also discusses the evolution of the towerco model into small cells and distributed antenna systems, both of which help enable high-speed mobile connectivity technologies like 4G and 5G. -
Publication
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for Youth in MENA : Policies to Promote Employment Opportunities
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011-02)On January 18, 2011, the Arab Development Summit Youth Forum met in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, aiming to provide young Arab leaders and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) entrepreneurs with the opportunity for dialogue with Arab decision makers, providing recommendations on how to empower youth in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through ICT. Tunisia's Jasmine revolution and its aftermath highlighted demand from youth for good governance. Access to information, freedom of expression and overall economic opportunities, ranked highest among the priorities articulated by youth-led Arab movements for change. The issue of youth employment is key to inclusive development in MENA which has the youngest population (average age 23 years) together with the highest global youth unemployment rate. While demand for ICT has been increasing dramatically, there is a regional youth digital divide. Mobile penetration is high but only 1.6 percent of the population has internet access. Addressing challenges on the supply-side and the demand-side can enable youth to reap the benefits of ICT. -
Publication
Enabling Private Investment in 5G Connectivity in Emerging Markets: An Assessment of Challenges and Policy Options
(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2021-04)This note proposes a high-level framework to assess challenges and policy options to enabling private sector-led investment in 5G connectivity in emerging markets. 5G is the latest mobile network technology and it has the potential to provide high-speed Internet connectivity and enable digital transformation across multiple sectors of an economy. The proposed framework leverages industry data to articulate the digital divide and benchmark the enabling environment for 5G connectivity in emerging markets. The note concludes with recommendations on policy options and business strategies, drawing from early experiences in advanced markets and major opportunities and challenges in emerging markets.