Regulation has entered a new age. The days when regulators dealt with purely technological changes such as the analogue to digital transition are over. Today, digital transformation is sweeping across whole economies, changing our outlook forever. As mobile phones have become even more ubiquitous in their coverage and use, they have also become portals to a host of online services. Regulators find themselves grappling with an ever-growing array of challenges associated across different sectors including digital identity, data protection, blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Regulation continues to evolve rapidly. Far from falling behind or trying to catch up , I have seen first-hand the earnest efforts of governments and policy-makers to monitor, benchmark and understand the impact of digital transformation. ITU stands ready to support its membership, including regulators and policy- makers, in understanding and navigating these changes and in meeting the challenges they bring. Table of contents Table of contents Foreword 1. Setting the scene 2. Global context 2.1. Economic impact of digital 2.2. Digitization has strong economic impact 2.3. ICT policy and regulatory frameworks impact market growth for digital services 3. The state of ICT regulation 3.1. Worldwide trends 3.2. Major regulatory trends 3.3. Each region is unique 4. Policy and regulatory trends 4.1. The regulator 4.2. Policies for digital 4.3. Regulation as usual – or is it? 4.4. Up for debate 4.5. New frontiers 5. Regulatory collaboration: ‘power coupling’ 5.2. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the competition authority 5.3. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the consumer protection authority 5.4. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the data protection authority 5.5. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the financial regulator 5.6. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the energy regulator 5.7. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the broadcasting authority 5.8. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the spectrum regulator 5.9. Power coupling: the ICT regulator and the agency responsible for Internet-related issues 5.10. Collaborative regulation worldwide – medal winners and missed opportunities 6. Closing remarks NOTE ON METHODOLOGY – ICT REGULATORY TRACKER ANNEX 1: LIST OF COUNTRIES, ICT REGULATORY TRACKER 2007-2017 ANNEX 2: DETAILED METHODOLOGY OF THE ICT REGULATORY TRACKER

Over past decades the world has witnessed a digital revolution that is ushering in huge change. The rate of that change continues to accelerate challenging our governments and institutions to keep pace. The ICT regulatory landscape too is evolving and at an ever-increasing pace. This report measures and monitors changes taking place in the telecommunication/ICT market itself as well as in the regulatory environment. It identifies and analyses seven market trends and seven regulatory trends and takes an informed view on future regulatory direction. The report builds on extensive data captured in the ICT Regulatory Tracker. Of the many findings featured in this report, one stands out as particularly significant. It is this: the move towards a more open, collaborative regulatory approach, together with the role played by the ICT regulator in orchestrating this, will be critically important in delivering on the rich promise of the digital economy – to the benefit not only of consumers and businesses but to the 3.9 billion people who remain unconnected to the Internet.

Regulatory impact analysis (RIA) is defined as a systematic, structured, evidence-based analysis of the prospective impacts of a proposed policy measure against possible alternatives. First launched in the US in 1981, it has been heavily promoted by international organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank in the past three decades, and has seen successful implementation in a number of developed and also developing economies. The adoption and implementation of RIA can promote the efficiency, transparency and accountability of government action. However, implementing RIA is also challenging from a procedural and methodological viewpoint, and many countries have failed to date in their attempt to successfully mainstream this procedure into their policy cycle. Table of contents Using regulatory impact analysis to improve decision making in the ICT sector Executive summary Table of contents 1 Understanding regulatory impact analysis 1.1 What is RIA and why it matters 1.2 International RIA models 2 Regulatory impact analysis: Main challenges and lessons learnt 2.1 Procedural and organizational challenges 2.2 Methodological challenges 3 Using RIA to make better decisions in the ICT sector 3.1 National experiences with RIA in the ICT sector 3.2 Examples 3.3 Concluding remarks 4 Introducing RIA in the ICT sector: A checklist for ICT regulators 4.1 Introducing RIA in the ICT sector 4.2 A checklist on how to perform individual RIAs 5 Conclusions and lessons learned