and expansion (at least where it is possible at all) are made more feasible and sustainable when the cost-base is reduced. To the extent the Government participates in the ICT sector, especially by developing its own ICT infrastructure (in particular the Government Broadband Network (GBN)), it will follow the same approach as outlined above. In this regard, the Government is prepared to consider procurement of wholesale services provided by licensed service providers, as well as shared use of telecommunications facilities when further expanding, upgrading and strengthening its network. The Government will also offer its facilities, infrastructure as well as associated services for the use, on a wholesale basis, by the private sector subject to demand and technical feasibility. It will also continue and enter into new reciprocal mutually beneficial arrangements aimed to strengthen the national infrastructure, such as exchanging redundant links to enhance resiliency of telecommunications networks. The Government will engage into and implement such arrangements in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Whenever Government’s activities have a potential to interfere with the operation of the private sector, especially in case of its one-way wholesale activities, the Government will exercise due care not to undermine sustainable, fair and effective competition in the market. The Government will ensure that it: (a) conducts such activities in a formal, transparent, fair, non-discriminatory and competitively neutral manner; (b) adheres to the principle of cost-orientation with a reference not merely to its own costs, but to the costs attainable by efficient private-sector players; (c) sets its tariffs in a transparent manner; and (d) publishes criteria and procedures for obtaining access to such infrastructure, facilities and services. Outsourcing such activities to a third-party entity may also be considered as an additional safeguard. The Government considers that such safeguards will generally be sufficient to ensure that private-sector operations are not unduly Although it may appear that embracing regionalisation may have a negative effect on local jobs and businesses, the Government does not believe that an artificial protection of local ICT sector players is an appropriate response.” undermined. In any case, the Government will avoid implementing safeguards that would unduly favour or protect specific market players. The cautious approach, including cost-based price setting, may not be applicable in cases where Government activities would not compete with private sector players—neither presently (e.g., no one provides a similar service), nor potentially (e.g., absent Government’s investments private players would not invest into similar infrastructure). In such cases, the Government may decide to subsidise the development of the market, for example by subsidising wholesale services. The Government will seek, however, to ensure that such subsidy is explicit and transparent. Furthermore, such interventions would have to be reviewed from time-to-time as private sector investments and competition may be made more feasible, including by: (a) new technologies; and (b) success of Government’s interventions. Therefore the Government will seek to conduct such Approaches and Principles 43