products for the Government could also raise a potential for conflict of interests. It is therefore important that in exercising such functions the Government does not leverage its policy maker role to obtain, as a buyer, a special treatment from telecommunications service providers and other vendors. Fair and Effective Competition and Enhancement of Economies of Scale The Government remains committed to safeguarding sustainable, fair and effective competition as the market structure that ensures that market players satisfy needs of the local community to the maximum possible extent. Tremendous expansion of mobile communications in Vanuatu is a demonstration of the appropriateness of this approach. In general, the Government believes that its any intervention should be structured in a way that would, to the maximum possible extent, avoid favouring specific market players, support competitive market forces and avoid a risk of undermining them. In this context, the Government will normally prefer demandside interventions (i.e., supporting users) to supply-side interventions (i.e., supporting providers). The Government believes that generally such an approach would enhance competition, as private sector players would compete to satisfy the extra demand. It would also increase cost-efficiency of Government interventions, as they could be better directed to meet needs of specific social or other target groups (such as low income residents). However, there might be situations, where, because of the nature and extent of specific market challenges, demand-side interventions might not provide a sufficient “pull” for the needed supply. This may, for example, happen if the enduser-generated demand is too distant from such market challenges (as it may be with respect to international connectivity). In any case, the Government will aim to base its supply-side interventions on a clear analysis of unfeasibility of demandside approaches, limit such interventions to the extent necessary to achieve their objectives, and implement appropriate safeguards to avoid or minimise any impact on the competitive environment. At the same time, the Government appreciates that the size of Vanuatu together with rather challenging market conditions, as described above in this document, make it important to explore and implement ways to reduce costs of services by enhancing economies of scale. In this regard the Government, while being careful not to undermine fair, sustainable and effective competition in the ICT sector, will encourage, promote and support: 1 minimization of market fragmentation, while avoiding counterproductive artificial protection of market players and barriers for entry, which could encourage complacency of current market players; 2 private (and public) sector collaboration to reduce costs, including by involving third parties to provide elements of infrastructure or shared services, and developing neutral facilities, such as an internet exchange point. The Government believes that the objective to promote fair and effective competition and the objective to enhance economies of scale are not trade-offs, but, specifically in the Vanuatu context, reinforce each other—as competitive market entry 42 National Information and Communication Technology Policy