This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the Universal Service (US) situation in Serbia, addressing\r\nthe economic and geographic digital divide for the introduction of broadband services. The authors�\r\nmain objectives are to study and present a detailed overview of the state of telecom infrastructure and\r\ntelecom service provisioning in the whole territory of Serbia as well as to recommend basic elements\r\nfor appropriate broadband access policies for regions as administrative units. The study methodology\r\nincludes the situation of locations (settlements) without fixed telecom services and locations with low\r\npenetration (4 and 10%), with each settlement having more than 50 inhabitants or more than 20\r\nhouseholds. To facilitate implementation, the economic strength of the critical settlements and the\r\nnecessary US funds are estimated, and the relationship between economic and telecommunication\r\ndevelopment is evaluated on the level of Serbian municipalities. This relationship indicates to policy\r\nmakers that telecommunication is an important tool for overall development. Special attention is paid to\r\npeople with disabilities and low-income users. As Serbia belongs to a large class of medium countries\r\nwith a middle income and moderate telecommunications, this case study and its findings could be used\r\nas a model for other emerging economies.
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