Are cost models useful for telecoms regulators in developing countries?

As developing countries build up their capacity to regulate privatized infrastructure monopolies, cost models are likely to prove increasingly important in determining the efficient cost of providing a service to a certain area or type of customer. But cost models require reliable information, which is often scarce in developing countries. Census data and the location of wire services together may help provide the minimum information a regulator needs to implement a cost proxy model, a promising regulatory tool for assessing the efficient cost of providing a utility service.