According to the OECD s experience, liberalization of telecommunications services has been crucial to the growth of fixed and mobile access lines, alternative access technologies and price reductions as well as internet access and use. Liberalization alone may not give the final answer in vast, sparsely populated areas with extreme weather conditions, limited demand and specific technical limitations that influence the reliability of telecommunications. Market-based development of infrastructure may have to be complemented, in the Arctic, by public sector initiatives. However, it is not likely that governments could afford huge investments in telecommunications infrastructure. The choice of best technology may be very difficult for several reasons, not least because of the rapid development of competing technologies.
Arctic regions have a lot to learn from each other's practices and choice of technical solutions.
They may also gain from corresponding efforts in other parts of the world, such as Australia, which is attempting to link its remote settlements. Major Arctic population centers could be connected effectively and economically to world-wide communication networks. The existence of such centers often depends on the utilization of natural resources. If part of the revenue from this utilization could be reserved for telecommunications development the sustainability of these centers could be strengthened. The North Slope Borough in the northernmost part of Alaska is a success story in this respect.