Abstract
A new European Union regulatory framework for the telecom sector has been under a process of transposition to national laws by its member states that should have been completed by the end of 2020, notwithstanding some delays. A core purpose of the regulatory framework is to guarantee that most citizens will have access to very fast Internet connections, capable of 100 Mbps download link speed, regardless of where they live. According to this new framework, in areas where the market does not deliver, governments are to launch public tenders for the deployment, maintenance, and operations of network infrastructure as well as services, and public funds should be used to support the deployment of these broadband networks in less densely populated areas. Needless to say, public tenders of this nature are subject to different criteria when it comes to candidate evaluation. In this paper, we present a decision model for the selection of operators to deploy and maintain broadband networks in scarcely populated areas, taking into consideration infrastructure costs, the technical quality offered by the solutions, and the credibility of the candidates. We suggest an integrated multi-stakeholder multi-criteria approach and demonstrate how it can be used in this complex area and find that in the example provided, taking a relevant set of criteria into the analysis, optical fibre networks hold much higher chances to be used in these public tenders compared to networks based on the broadly favoured 5G technology.
Highlights
Over the years, the European Union (EU) has addressed the equality of access to technological benefits among its citizens, where social welfare has been emphasised in the sense that no EU citizens should be left behind from a communications perspective
The candidate has practical field experience, in the deployment of the exact network technology it proposed in its public tender bid
The candidate has practical field experience, in the deployment of a similar network technology it proposed in its public tender bid
Summary
The European Union (EU) has addressed the equality of access to technological benefits among its citizens, where social welfare has been emphasised in the sense that no EU citizens should be left behind from a communications perspective. Governments should use EU funding alongside national public budgets to fully fund the deployment of the infrastructure, even when the deployment begins before the end of 2025 During this process, public decision-makers are expected to launch public tenders to select one network operator per region, which is free to offer any technology as long as it is capable of delivering a 100 Mbps connection for that particular area or region. Despite the network costs being publicly subsidised, the optimal network technology for the tender is not necessarily the least costly solution for the government It depends on the relevant concept of public interest that is formed during the decision-making process.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
