For ICTs, UA and US can largely be characterized by the availability, accessibility and affordability of telephony and the Internet, with increasing consideration of the inclusion of broadband and broadcasting. These terms, as used in this toolkit, are found in
Section 1.1.1.
Typically targets for universal access and service (UAS) in developing countries relate to telephony and the Internet. How these targets can be selected and related to indicators of development is described in
Section 1.1.2. A more general discussion of extending targets to communications capabilities is discussed in
Section 1.1.6.
Technological developments, liberalization, improved sector regulation, and enlightened import duty and tax regimes let network infrastructure and service provision be expanded at lower costs and with better quality than before. However, these developments make it necessary to continually monitor the scope and status of UAS and to make sure that all members of society can benefit from them. In fact, as outlined in
Section 1.1.3, the scope of UAS tends to broaden: because of the developments in technology and society it often includes not just telephony and Internet, but special services based on telephony, and also the Internet in one form or another.
A method for choosing which services to include in the scope of UAS, is suggested in
Section 1.1.4. Developments in the ICT sector and changing UAS requirements impact the debate on required regulatory intervention, as discussed in
Section 1.1.7. The question of how to target groups for special assistance, if and when it is appropriate, is discussed in
Section 1.1.5.