The Impact of Shared Telecom Infrastructure on Digital Connectivity and Inclusion

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Houngbonon, Georges V., Ivaldi, Marc, Palikot, Emil, Strusani, Davide
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Houngbonon, Georges V.
Ivaldi, Marc
Palikot, Emil
Strusani, Davide
author_facet Houngbonon, Georges V.
Ivaldi, Marc
Palikot, Emil
Strusani, Davide
contents Nearly half the world remains offline, and capital scarcity stalls new network buildouts. Sharing existing mobile towers could accelerate connectivity. We assemble data on 107 tower-sharing deals in 28 low-income countries (2008-20) and estimate staggered difference-in-differences effects. Two years after a transaction covering over 1,000 towers, the PPP-adjusted mobile-price index falls USD 1.60 (s.e. 1.10) from a baseline of USD 3.16, while data prices drop USD 1.00 (0.29), baseline USD 3.41 per GB. The number of mobile connections increases. Rural internet access increases by 4.7 pp and female-headed households by 3.6 pp. Tower-sharing agreements increase product market competition as measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_19693
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Impact of Shared Telecom Infrastructure on Digital Connectivity and Inclusion
Houngbonon, Georges V.
Ivaldi, Marc
Palikot, Emil
Strusani, Davide
General Economics
Economics
Nearly half the world remains offline, and capital scarcity stalls new network buildouts. Sharing existing mobile towers could accelerate connectivity. We assemble data on 107 tower-sharing deals in 28 low-income countries (2008-20) and estimate staggered difference-in-differences effects. Two years after a transaction covering over 1,000 towers, the PPP-adjusted mobile-price index falls USD 1.60 (s.e. 1.10) from a baseline of USD 3.16, while data prices drop USD 1.00 (0.29), baseline USD 3.41 per GB. The number of mobile connections increases. Rural internet access increases by 4.7 pp and female-headed households by 3.6 pp. Tower-sharing agreements increase product market competition as measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.
title The Impact of Shared Telecom Infrastructure on Digital Connectivity and Inclusion
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.19693