Publication: Output-Based Aid in Mongolia : Expanding Telecommunications Services to Rural Areas
Date
2008-02
ISSN
Published
2008-02
Author(s)
Dymond, Andrew
Oestmann, Sonja
McConnell, Scott
Abstract
Access to telecommunications services
has been extremely limited in the remote and sparsely
populated areas of Mongolia. Several factors have conspired
against achieving universal access on a purely commercial
basis the country's vast and challenging geography, the
nomadic lifestyle of the rural population, government
ownership and incumbent control of the long-distance
transmission network. As first steps in rolling out a
universal access program, two pilot projects are bringing
phone service to remote herder communities and both mobile
phone and Internet services to rural villages. To support
the delivery of these services, onetime subsidies were
competitively awarded to licensed telecommunications
operators in Mongolia. These are output-based subsidies: the
winning bidders take on the investment risks of expanding
their networks, receiving subsidy payments largely only
after meeting service targets. The operators are obligated
to continue offering the services for the duration of their
5 year service agreements without further subsidy.
Citation
“Dymond, Andrew; Oestmann, Sonja; McConnell, Scott. 2008. Output-Based Aid in Mongolia : Expanding Telecommunications Services to Rural Areas. OBApproaches; Note No. 18. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/3833a1b2-90df-54b5-815f-571e2e2b7881 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”