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There is little understanding of what determines mobile broadband affordability in different countries. We address this problem by exploring to what extent policy, regulation, government, and governance affect mobile broadband affordability. Our results show that when controlling for wealth, education and other factors, competition to provide mobile services, financial investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs), and income inequality are all important variables in determining mobile broadband affordability. Our findings related to financial investment suggest that service providers and other stakeholders are still recouping the cost of deploying the infrastructure necessary to provide mobile services, and have not yet achieved the economy of scale required for the price of mobile broadband to begin to fall. Although policy initiatives and income inequality are important determinants of mobile broadband affordability, we find no evidence that political structure and processes (e.g., the level of democracy), telecommunications regulation, or public-sector governance matter.

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Determinants of Mobile Broadband Affordability: A Cross-National Comparison

There is little understanding of what determines mobile broadband affordability in different countries. We address this problem by exploring to what extent policy, regulation, government, and governance affect mobile broadband affordability. Our results show that when controlling for wealth, education and other factors, competition to provide mobile services, financial investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs), and income inequality are all important variables in determining mobile broadband affordability. Our findings related to financial investment suggest that service providers and other stakeholders are still recouping the cost of deploying the infrastructure necessary to provide mobile services, and have not yet achieved the economy of scale required for the price of mobile broadband to begin to fall. Although policy initiatives and income inequality are important determinants of mobile broadband affordability, we find no evidence that political structure and processes (e.g., the level of democracy), telecommunications regulation, or public-sector governance matter.