To improve broadband penetration levels, countries require efforts by top-level political leadership and joint efforts by the private sector and governments.
This is a according to a report released by the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) Broadband Commission for Digital Development last week.
The report, entitled 'Broadband: A Platform for Progress', says most important of all, these efforts must be coordinated across all sectors of industry, administration and the economy.
“Developing isolated projects or piecemeal, duplicated networks is not only inefficient, it also delays provision of infrastructure that is becoming as crucial in the modern world as roads or electricity supplies,” the report points out.
ITU secretary-general Dr Hamadoun Tour'e says the report indicates that improvements in broadband penetration directly correlate to improvements in GDP.
“Basically, the more available and cheaper broadband access is, the better for a country's economy and growth prospects,” he says.
According to Tour'e, history has witnessed many 'declarations of independence'. “But in today's interconnected world, we might propose a new 'declaration of inter-dependence' - a recognition that the economic welfare of each individual country increasingly depends on access to the rest of the world through broadband Internet.”
Broadband plans
The commission says governments around the world need to rapidly formulate and implement national multi-sectoral broadband plans. “If they do not do this, they risk being seriously disadvantaged in today's increasingly high-speed digital environment.”
To optimise the benefits to society, broadband should be coordinated on a countrywide basis, promoting facilities-based competition, the commission argues.
“Broadband should also be coordinated with policies encouraging service providers to offer access on fair market terms...efforts should be coordinated across all sectors of industry, administration and the economy.”
According to the report, when a trans-sectoral approach is taken, investments can yield major multiplier effects that benefit healthcare, education, energy efficiency, environmental protection, public safety, civic participation and economic growth.
Such a trans-sectoral approach should lead to the development of smart interconnected and sustainable communities, homes and businesses, the commission points out.
A trans-sectoral way of thinking can also be applied across infrastructure projects, it adds. “Communication systems installed at the same time as electricity networks, for example, can better leverage 'smart grid' technologies.”
It is essential that the various industrial sectors advocate for new broadband infrastructure, so that its financial and social benefits can be fully realised, the commission points out.
It adds that as well as facilitating these moves through such measures as improving regulations, governments should show leadership by making sure their various administrative departments work together to use the infrastructure and to create relevant and useful e-applications.
Knowledge sharing
UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova says broadband is important in sharing knowledge and extending education to people everywhere. “Provided it is available to all and affordable for all, broadband-powered applications and content can be a powerful lever for achieving education for all goals.
“Inclusive, universal and equitable broadband roll-out can be a tremendous accelerator for development and growth - one way to build knowledge societies and to share the wealth of the world's cultural, linguistic and scientific resources,” she says.
Access to broadband is only one part of the picture - developing human capacity is absolutely vital to ensure that individuals have the skills to make the most of new technologies, according to Bokoya.
“This means education, it means media literacy, it means ensuring that all marginalised groups are included. All actors - national, international, private and public - must work together to these ends. The case for this has been made. Now we must make it happen.”
According to the report, offering much more than faster access to Web pages, broadband networks are a crucial element of the 'Internet of Things', by which ordinary inanimate objects communicate with one another using technologies like RFID, without the need for human intervention.
It says such networks are already revolutionising inventory control and fleet management, and are set to play a growing role in key social sectors.
“These include healthcare through e-health applications, education through remote learning and teacher training, and environmental management through applications like smart grids, monitoring systems and smart buildings.”
To achieve the best results, the report argues that broadband needs to be coordinated on a countrywide basis such as a national broadband.
This can also be an open network to which service providers have access to on fair terms, regardless of who owns the infrastructure.
Eventually, this can lead to broadband being considered as highly advanced and essential infrastructure, similar to electricity and water distribution networks, it says.
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