10. Ongoing Rental and Operating Costs
This report has not been requested to address ongoing rental and operating costs. However, they are expected to be high in "rural" areas compared to the cities if the Service Providers recover full costs. Broadband data services are not covered by the KSO.
This study was requested to cover the network infrastructure availability and needs. All the related costs above are capital costs. Ongoing operational costs were not included.
These capital costs cannot be directly related to the ongoing charges or tariffs for broadband services that may be set by the Service Providers. The provision of broadband services is not covered by the KSO, so tariffs and rentals can be set to recover costs, with higher speeds being charged for at higher prices. It can not be assumed that standard "city" rates will apply to the small-scale installations in Rural and Small Urban Towns. As well as the high capital costs per broadband service delivery in small quantities, high ongoing operations and maintenance costs occur in "rural" areas. It is not unreasonable that all the Service Providers will seek to recover these costs. From the "user" point of view this will make them expensive and hard to afford.
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