A framework for optimal techno-economic assessment of broadband access solutions and digital inclusion of rural population in global information society

Abstract

Broadband solutions, i.e., broadband technologies and services, offer users numerous benefits. However, inequalities related to the levels of broadband solutions' deployment and adoption between rural and urban areas, i.e., the digital divide, remain a consequential problem worldwide. To reduce the digital divide, the issues related to the deployment and usage of broadband solutions in rural areas are analysed in this paper. To define optimal strategies for the deployment and adoption of rural broadband solutions, the application of an extended technoeconomic assessment process is considered. Therefore, an additional framework that extends the structure of standard techno-economic models is proposed, and its detailed overview is given. Within the framework, the regression analyses of factors relevant to broadband solutions deployment and adoption in rural areas are defined. The results of conducted analyses are used in the standard techno-economic modelling process. Finally, the efficiency of framework usage in techno-economic assessment process and in finding optimal broadband solutions is demonstrated for a case study rural scenario.

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