World Bank2013-03-282013-03-282007-06-22https://hdl.handle.net/10986/13048This report assesses the potential gains from regionalized telecommunications policy in West Africa. The report seeks to assist officials in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) and member states in designing an effective regional regulatory process. To this end, the report: (i) discusses how regional cooperation can overcome national limits in technical expertise, can enhance the capacity of countries credibly to commit to stable regulatory policy, and ultimately can facilitate infrastructure investment in the region; (ii) identifies trade-distorting regulations that inhibit opportunities for regional trade and economic development, and so are good candidates for regional trade negotiations to reduce indirect trade barriers; and (iii) describes substantive elements of a harmonized regional regulatory policy that can deliver immediate performance benefits.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO THE INTERNETACTION PLANAUCTIONSAUTHORIZATION REQUESTB2BB2CBACKBONEBALANCE OF TRADEBARRIERS TO ENTRYBOTTLENECKSBROADBANDBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESSESBUYERSCAPABILITYCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL CITIESCAPITAL MARKETSCERTIFICATECOMMERCECOMMERCIAL ACTIVITIESCOMMODITYCOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURESCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIESCOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGYCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGYCOMPUTERSCONNECTIVITYCUSTOMER RELATIONSCUSTOMSDECISION MAKINGDEVELOPMENT OF E-COMMERCEDIGITAL ACCESSDIGITAL DIVIDEDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDISTRIBUTION NETWORKSE-COMMERCE ACTIVITYE-GOVERNANCEE-GOVERNMENTE-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTEDUCATIONAL SYSTEMSELECTRICITYELECTRONIC EXCHANGEENABLING ENVIRONMENTEND USERSFAIR COMPETITIONFINANCIAL RESOURCESFIXED COSTFOREIGN INVESTMENTG2BG2CGOVERNMENT REVENUESGOVERNMENT SERVICESGROWTH STRATEGYHARMONIZATIONHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCEHUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITYHUMAN RESOURCESICTIMPACT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONSINDUSTRIAL ECONOMIESINDUSTRY PROGRESSINFORMATION ECONOMYINFORMATION SERVICESINFORMATION SHARINGINFORMATION SYSTEMSINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINFRASTRUCTURE ACCESSINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE POLICIESINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSINFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDERSINFRASTRUCTURE REFORMINNOVATIONSINSPECTIONINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICEINTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESSINTERNATIONAL POLICYINTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONALIZATIONINVENTORIESKNOWLEDGE SHARINGLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKLEGISLATIVE REFORMSLICENSELICENSESMANUFACTURINGMARKET ACCESSMARKET SHAREMOBILE NETWORKSMOBILE SERVICESMOBILE TELEPHONEMOBILE TELEPHONYNATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURENETWORK SERVICENETWORK USERSNETWORKSNEW MARKETSNEW TECHNOLOGIESOPEN ACCESSPARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTPARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTSPCSPERSONAL COMPUTERPHONEPHYSICAL DISTANCEPHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTUREPHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURESPOLICY FRAMEWORKPOLICY FRAMEWORKSPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE NETWORKSPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTORSPRODUCTIVITYPROGRAMSPROTOCOLPROTOCOLSPUBLIC UTILITIESRADIORADIO SPECTRUMREGIONAL NETWORKREGIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCEREGULATORY AGENCYREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSREGULATORY MECHANISMSREGULATORY PRINCIPLESREGULATORY REFORMREGULATORY REGIMESREGULATORY SYSTEMREGULATORY SYSTEMSRELIABILITYRESULTRESULTSRETAIL TRADESATELLITESERVICE PROVIDERSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL SERVICESSPECTRUM MANAGEMENTSTANDARDIZATIONTARGETSTECHNICAL EXPERTISETECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTTELECOMTELECOM INVESTMENTSTELECOM SERVICESTELECOMMUNICATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESSTELECOMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITYTELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANYTELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRYTELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURETELECOMMUNICATIONS INITIATIVESTELECOMMUNICATIONS LAWTELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKTELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSTELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICYTELECOMMUNICATIONS PROJECTSTELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERTELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORMTELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORMSTELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATORTELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTORTELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICESTELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMTELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMSTELECOMSTELEDENSITYTELEPHONETELEPHONE PENETRATIONTELEPHONESTRADE FACILITATIONTRANSMISSIONTRANSPORTATIONUNIVERSAL ACCESSUNIVERSAL SERVICEUNIVERSAL SERVICE FUNDSUNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATIONSUSERUSESWIRELESS COMMUNICATIONSWIRELESS TECHNOLOGIESWIRELESS TECHNOLOGYWIRELESS TELEPHONYWorld Bank10.1596/13048