Mobile trumps fibre

Social networking has great potential to be used for e-government applications via mobile phones, according to the 2011 SIM Report.

The report, entitled “Making broadband accessible for all”, is co-funded by Vodafone and the World Wide Web Foundation, as part of a series of studies on the socio-economic impact of mobile.

Vodafone says the report provides substantial evidence to suggest that extending data services to as many people as possible will deliver considerable economic and social benefit.

“Given the ubiquity of mobile and the growing number of low-cost smart devices, it is likely that data services will be primarily accessed via mobile, particularly in emerging markets where there is no significant legacy fixed-line infrastructure.”

However, it adds that despite this, regulators in many emerging markets are over-investing or planning to invest, at great expense, in the deployment of fixed-line fibre access networks.

For example, the report studies three Indian states to compare the feasibility of extending fibre access networks against mobile networks.

”It concludes that the deployment of a fibre access network would only be commercially viable in 3% of the districts. On the other hand, it is commercially viable to provide wireless broadband coverage to 98% of the districts,” says Vodafone.

The aim of the report is to provide policy makers with evidence that will help them shape policies to stimulate economic growth. Editor of the SIM report Diane Coyle says: “We believe that our findings show that the current emphasis on delivering fibre-optic cable everywhere overlooks other effective means of extending the use of broadband in an affordable way.”

The report also highlights the role that relevant and appealing content plays in building demand for data usage to a critical point where network effects and economies of scale accelerate.

“The use of global Web sites, especially social networking sites such as Facebook, is becoming widespread. This is a good sign as these sites can provide the platform for the development of local content and can help to drive the prices down,” says Vodafone.

It adds that the report recommends governments provide mobile-enabled services free of charge in order to increase broadband take up.

CEO of the World Wide Web Foundation Steve Bratt says affordability for low-income users will require innovation that does not place most of the burden of access costs on them.

“This report shows that social networking has huge potential to act as a platform for e-government applications accessible via mobile handset devices. We hope regulators allow innovations in this area to flourish and not inhibit them by preconceived notions of the right model or pricing.”

The report also recommends that regulators focus on consumer welfare when making spectrum available for service providers, as the availability of spectrum will drive technology innovations and better coverage for the growing demand for mobile broadband services.

“Tapping spectrum as a source of short-term government revenue costs the economy billions more in lost economic value,” adds Vodafone.