Document details

Broadcasting and Development: Options for the World Bank

Washington, DC: World Bank (2003), 24 pp.

Contains bibliogr. pp. 23-24

Series: World Bank Working Paper, 11

ISBN 0-8213-5561-9 (print); 0-8213-5562-7 (ebook)

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"The World Bank should take a more active role in policy and regulatory activities targeting the broadcasting sector because: broadcasting can have a significant part to play in the fight to reduce global poverty; convergence of information and communications technologies (ICT) is allowing broadcast services to be provided over telecommunications networks and internet services to use broadcast systems; the broadcast component of the convergent ICT sector is a significant economic sector; reform of the broadcast sector can have a significant development impact; few other international development players are active in the broadcast reform arena; traditional reticence to address a sector that raises political sensitivities appears overblown. The Bank Group’s potential activities in the sector might include: basic reform, involving the opening up of the broadcast sector to private and community involvement, and deconcentrating private media ownership; convergence regulation, involving the harmonization and integration of regulations covering broadcast and telecommunications infrastructure; support for community radio stations to improve access for the poor to the tools of information and communications technologies; pilot projects involving digital television to assess the potential of broadcasting as a tool to widen access to the internet." (Executive summary, page ix)
Broadcasting and Development, 2
Broadcasting and the New ICTs, 7
Convergence, 8
Broadcasting as a Productive Sector, 11
The Government’s Role in the Broadcasting Sector, 12
The World Bank and Broadcasting, 16
A Role for GICT, 17
Annex: Digital Terrestrial in Ireland, 21