| APrIGF 2025 Session Proposal Submission Form | |||||||||
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| Part 1 - Lead Organizer | |||||||||
| Contact Person | |||||||||
| Dr. Mahesh Uppal | |||||||||
| Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) * | |||||||||
| ComFirst Pvt Ltd | |||||||||
| Designation | |||||||||
| Director | |||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||
| Male | |||||||||
| Economy of Residence | |||||||||
| India | |||||||||
| Stakeholder Group | |||||||||
| Private Sector | |||||||||
| List Your Organizing Partners (if any) | |||||||||
| Neeti Biyani APNIC Foundation neeti.biyani@apnic.foundation |
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| Part 2 - Session Proposal | |||||||||
| Session Title | |||||||||
| Rethinking Universal Service Funds in South Asia: Challenges, Impact, and the Road Ahead | |||||||||
| Thematic Track of Your Session | |||||||||
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| Description of Session Formats | |||||||||
| Showcase (20 minutes) | |||||||||
| Where do you plan to organize your session? | |||||||||
| Onsite at the venue (with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants) | |||||||||
| Specific Issues for Discussion | |||||||||
| Universal Service Funds (USFs) have played a pivotal role in expanding connectivity across South Asia, aiming to bridge the digital divide in unserved, underserved and remote parts of the region, as well as across dispersed people. This showcase session will premise itself in the evolving role of USFs in today’s digital ecosystem, examining their successes, persistent challenges, and lessons from regional experiences. In this context, the presenters will unpack issues such as under-utilisation of funds, political and regulatory bottlenecks, and the need for modernisation in the age of the Internet, digital and emerging technologies. Drawing on diverse perspectives, this showcase session will offer a comprehensive, actionable recommendation framework to South Asian policymakers, and an advocacy plan for industry, technical community, and civil society to revitalise USFs as effective tools for digital inclusion. This recommendation framework is developed with support from the APNIC Foundation. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how the recommended reforms stand to further connectivity, meaningful access, development, and equity goals across South Asia. | |||||||||
| Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF | |||||||||
| This session is highly relevant to both tracks 'Access and Inclusion' and 'Resilience': (1) Access and Inclusion: Universal Service Funds are designed to promote equitable access to telecommunications and Internet services, especially for marginalised and rural populations. By evaluating how effectively USFs have enabled digital inclusion in South Asia—and where they’ve fallen short—the session directly engages with strategies to expand meaningful access to underserved communities. Recommendations from the showcased framework will help reshape these mechanisms to close connectivity gaps and ensure no one is left behind in the digital age. (2) Resilience: Beyond access, USFs also have the potential to support robust and future-proof Internet and digital infrastructure in areas that the market may not reach on its own. The session will explore how USFs can be better leveraged to build resilient infrastructure that can withstand economic, environmental, and geopolitical shocks. This includes addressing issues like redundancy, maintenance, and capability building, which are crucial for long-term infrastructure stability in the South Asian region. |
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| Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right) | |||||||||
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| Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) - (Required) | |||||||||
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| Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session. | |||||||||
| Mahesh Uppal is Director at ComFirst Pvt Ltd. He has over three decades of experience in telecom, Internet, and digital development. He has advised governments and regulatory bodies and informed techno-policy contexts across the region. He will present the recommendation framework developed to address the bottlenecks experienced by USFs across the region. | |||||||||
| If you need assistance to find a suitable speaker to contribute to your session, or an onsite facilitator for your online-only session, please specify your request with details of what you are looking for. | |||||||||
| N/A | |||||||||
| Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2025. | |||||||||
| No | |||||||||
| Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2025? | |||||||||
| No | |||||||||
| Upon evaluation by the Program Committee, your session proposal may only be selected under the condition that you will accept the suggestion of merging with another proposal with similar topics. Please state your preference below: | |||||||||
| Yes, I am willing to work with another session proposer on a suggested merger. | |||||||||
| APrIGF offers live transcript in English for all sessions. Do you need any other translation support or any disability related requests for your session? APrIGF makes every effort to be a fully inclusive and accessible event, and will do the best to fulfill your needs. | |||||||||
| No | |||||||||
| Brief Summary of Your Session | |||||||||
| This showcase session examined the role of USFs in today’s digital ecosystem, exploring their successes, ongoing challenges, and lessons from regional experiences. It particularly emphasised the limitations caused by most USFs, which focus primarily on physical infrastructure and overlook several other barriers to meaningful internet access, such as affordability, relevant content, devices, and safety. The session underscored the need to broaden the mandate of USFs, enabling them to allocate their resources more effectively to tackle the full spectrum of barriers to internet access. Consequently, it proposed renaming USFs to Digital Development Funds. It also recommended greater USF support for new technologies and a transition away from outdated access technologies like 2G, which do not sufficiently support data services. Additionally, the session suggested reviewing the current practice of least-cost auctions for distributing USF subsidies, moving towards a more hybrid model. Furthermore, it proposed establishing a suitable institutional framework that balances autonomy and accountability. This framework was developed with assistance from the APNIC Foundation. Participants gained insight into how these proposed reforms could advance connectivity, equitable access, development, and inclusion across South Asia. |
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| Substantive Summary of the Key Issues Raised and the Discussion | |||||||||
| The session underscored the need to broaden USFs' mandates, enabling them to allocate resources more effectively to address the full spectrum of barriers to internet access. Consequently, it proposed renaming USFs to Digital Development Funds. It also recommended greater USF support for new technologies and a transition away from outdated access technologies such as 2G, which do not adequately support data services. | |||||||||
| Conclusions and Suggestions of Way Forward | |||||||||
| There is an urgent need to recognise barriers to the efficient utilisation of USF funds. A review of their current focus on physical infrastructure must be undertaken to include support for content, devices, and capacity building in addition to their current activities. USFs must be reimagined and rechristened as Digital Development Funds to support inclusive access to the internet and related digital technologies. | |||||||||
| Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||
| Gender Balance in Moderators/Speakers (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||
| Consent | |||||||||
 I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2025. |
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