A fair and transparent regulatory and policy framework helps to secure and promote private-sector involvement. It is up to governments to ensure that the poor benefit from ICTs whenever and wherever possible. This can be ensured by formulating policies that specifically focus on the interests of the poor, encouraging network operators to channel part of their investments towards less commercially attractive regions, encouraging and co-financing ICT applications that directly benefit the poor, such as information points in local community centres, and investing in ICT applications in the public sector. Velde te et al (2013) confirm that aid for trade, in general, is effective at both the micro and macro levels.