'Boost broadband or risk exclusion'

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development (BCDD) issued an open letter to the G20 leaders, urging them to prioritise roll-out of high-speed infrastructure, services and applications.

The BCDD wants governments to do all they can to promote the development of broadband networks, applications and services that will serve as the catalyst for future socio-economic growth.

“In the information society of the 21st century, countries must make the necessary investments to enable their citizens to participate in and benefit from the digital economy and global innovation - or risk exclusion,” the letter warns.

It equates the importance of broadband to essential utilities like water, roads, rail and electricity, also stating that governments have a key role to play in stimulating broadband deployment by putting in place pro-competitive and pro-investment policies, lowering barriers to entry and making direct investment, where appropriate.

It also stresses the fundamental role of the private sector in driving the roll-out of networks and services, and fuelling ongoing innovation.

The BCDD says investments in broadband have a vital role to play, both in moving the global economy back onto a higher growth trajectory, and in generating sustainable social and economic growth.

“However, investments must not be focused only on infrastructure development, they must also provide for advanced online services, locally relevant content and services, and support for media and information literacy development to address inequity and deliver broadband inclusion for all.”

The letter says broadband-enabled technologies are stimulating fresh innovation and inspiring a new generation of digital entrepreneurs to create new applications, services, and content.

“Broadband moves innovation into people's hands and homes, allowing end-users to take on new roles as entrepreneurs, software developers, lobbyists, activists, journalists and other content generators.

“The digital era will produce a whole new range of digital careers and industries which do not yet exist and are hardly even imaginable today. ICTs and broadband generate great technological dynamism and reduce barriers to entry, offering opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs to challenge existing hierarchies, to innovate, to compete, and to grow.”

With the enormous potential of broadband in mind, the BCDD endorsed four advocacy targets for making broadband universal and boosting affordability and broadband uptake. It urges governments to work towards achieving these targets.

The first is that by 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their universal access/service definitions.

Target two is making broadband affordable. By 2015, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (amounting to less than 5% of average monthly income).

The third target is connecting 40% of households to broadband by 2015 and the fourth is ensuring Internet user penetration reaches 50% in developing countries by 2015.

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) secretary-general Hamadoun Tour'e says the meeting of the G20 is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the need to promote “broadband inclusion for all” and move it to the top of the international policy agenda.

“We must act now to ensure that future generations from all countries, and across all social strata, can take full advantage of the unprecedented power of broadband to extend access to knowledge, to culture, and to vital social services like healthcare, education and e-government.”

Latest ITU figures show that 2.4 billion people are using the Internet. There are now over one billion mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide, and mobile is set to be the access platform of choice for most people in the developing world, where fixed line penetration remains low.

“However, well over half the world's people - from those in developing countries, to those living in geographically isolated communities, to marginalised groups like persons living with disabilities, the elderly, the illiterate and house-bound women - are yet to get online. That makes digital inclusion an important issue that needs to be tackled by every country, not just the world's poorer nations,” says Tour'e.

The Broadband Commission says it will be actively promoting its message of “broadband for all” at other key international gatherings this year, including the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, this week, and the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, in September.