A tangible example of how broadband benefits society was given by Mike Wright, executive director of Australian operator Telstra, at the Broadband World Forum Europe 2008 in Brussels, September 29 - October 2. He explained how Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service depends on the wide coverage and high speeds of Telstra’s HSPA network to access patient records and other data necessary to make informed critical care decisions.

Social or entertainment applications of broadband get a lot of attention. But businesses and governments claim greater benefits of having broadband access, relating to education, healthcare, work efficiency and new business opportunities. A challenge to make all this happen is the issue of regulatory assurances for operators to get return on their investments.

Torbjörn Nilsson, a senior advisor to Ericsson, led a panel session at the forum titled Enhancing a Broadband-Enabled Economy. He says: “In order for broadband to have full impact, governments, regulators and the information communication technology (ICT) industry must consider the regulatory framework. Traditionally, regulation has been divided into technologies, but it doesn’t work like that anymore as we see converged networks; or services such as TV, that didn’t exist before – an operator can now also be the people who deliver your TV services.

“Any regulation has to allow an operator that invests in broadband to see a return on their investment. Otherwise, there’s no incentive to invest in the network. Regulation must look at the dynamic world of telecom and not at the silos any more.”

Nilsson says this is particularly a problem in the European market and especially with incumbent and fixed operators. He says that presentations and discussions at the Broadband World Forum strengthened the position of mobile broadband, basically an unregulated area, as a valid complement to fixed broadband in rural areas as well as other areas. “Until there’s firm regulation in place, operators will probably continue to invest in less regulated areas such as internet and mobile broadband. At the same time, fixed operators are moving into the TV and video business, which is regulated in a very different way than mobile telecom, and this can be a problem.”

Erik Hallberg, head of Broadband Services at Telia Sonera Sweden, said: “If the cable TV is not regulated and the mobile broadband is hardly regulated either, why impose heavy regulation on the fixed broadband network? Why should we invest if being forced to let competition into the broadband network and not getting return on investments. It is unfair competition.”

Nilsson says it’s urgent for regulators and governments to take action, but in the meantime consumers win by simply choosing the least expensive and most convenient technology to watch TV, for example.

Ericsson’s role is to help explain how broadband can be used and the huge business opportunities that come with it. With its Full Service Broadband offering, Ericsson is a complete end-to-end supplier.