Financing Universal Access to Digital Technologies and Services

Today’s fundamental funding challenge is to make rural and low-income areas and marginalized populations “worth” the investment risk for the private sector and co-investors, as the economic cost of exclusion is higher than the cost of closing the digital divide. Designed to provide practical guidance to ITU members and other stakeholders, this report contributes to reviewing and rethinking funds as a concept, exploring alternative models using a combination of monetary and non-monetary contributions and implementing innovative risk-mitigation mechanisms and financial solutions for smarter investments. It also provides guidance on the policy and regulatory frameworks needed to attract greater private sector participation in financing universal connectivity, access and uptake and explores business models for deploying supply and demand-side projects and initiatives in the digital era.