As the broadband revolution continues in the West and North, we are tracking with interest how broadband is progressing in other regions and what pacing is underway to open access to the South in particular. This announcement provides calibration and some optimism.
The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology – announced “four ‘ambitious but achievable’ new targets for 2015 that countries around the world should strive to meet in order to ensure their populations fully participate in tomorrow’s emerging knowledge societies.”
The ITU said that targets were endorsed at the Fourth Meeting of its Broadband Commission for Digital Development and cover broadband policy, affordability and uptake:
- Making broadband policy universal: By 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their Universal Access / Service
- Making broadband affordable: By 2015, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (for example, amount to less than 5% of average monthly income).
- Connecting homes to broadband: By 2015, 40% of households in developing countries should have Internet access.
- Getting people online: By 2015, Internet user penetration should reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
The Broadband Challenge endorsed by the Commission recognizes communication as ‘a human need and a right’, and “calls on governments and private industry to work together to develop the innovative policy frameworks, business models and financing arrangements needed to facilitate growth in access to broadband worldwide.”
The document also notes that “It is essential to review legislative and regulatory frameworks, many of which are inherited from the last century, to ensure the free and unhindered flow of information in the new virtual, hyper-connected world,” and stresses the “need to stimulate content production in local languages and enhance local capacity to benefit from, and contribute to, the digital revolution.”
The Broadband Challenge report as pdf here. ITU media release here.
David R Curry
30 October 2011
