With high-speed networks set to transform our world, governments need to put broadband at the top of the agenda

Geneva, 2nd September 2010 00.01: Statistics compiled by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveal huge disparities globally in the take-up and affordability of broadband.

While some 30% of people in wealthy countries in Western Europe now have a broadband subscription, which costs around 1% or less of monthly income, in BRIC countries penetration is still below 10% and broadband access can cost 5% or more of average monthly income. In many of the world’s poorest countries, fixed broadband penetration is below 1% and broadband access costs more than 100% of average monthly income.

Country   Fixed broadband subscriptions per
100 inhabitants, beginning 2010   Affordability of fixed broadband, as a percentage of monthly income
UK   29.8%   0.63%
USA   27.1%   0.5%
France   31.1%   1.02%
Germany   30.4%   1.23%
Canada   29.7%   0.71%
Australia   25.4%   0.77%
South Korea   33.8%   1.41%
Brazil   7.5%   4.58%
Russia   9.2%   1.66%
India   0.7%   5.84%
China   7.7%   7.19%

Source: ITU
 
These figures lend weight to findings soon to be announced in the forthcoming reports of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which urge governments and development agencies to make broadband a top development priority.

“Broadband is today’s truly transformational technology,” says Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the ITU. “As with the dawn of other inventions that profoundly reshaped our society, most of us are yet to see the tremendous power and potential of these networks. It’s not just about fast web browsing. Through e-health, e-education, e-government, smart grids, smart transport systems and much more, broadband will power economic and social progress in the 21st century. When we first harnessed electricity, we thought: ‘lighting’. But the advent of the power grid was the tipping point that led to the building of skyscrapers, the rapid rise of large-scale industry, mass mobility, and even – through labour-saving home appliances – the emancipation of women.”

ITU’s statistics lend urgency to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development’s belief that high-speed, high-capacity broadband is an essential element in modern society, with wide economic and social benefits, and that broadband will help accelerate progress towards meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015.

Dr Touré will be presenting the outcome report of the Broadband Commission to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York on 19th September 2010, just ahead of the 2010 Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York.

Dr Touré is also delivering a keynote speech in London tomorrow on “Britain’s digital development and driving international progress” at the Westminster Media Forum seminar on Britain’s Digital Future.

At least thirty countries[1] have now included broadband as part of their universal access/service definition – meaning they consider broadband as a public service to which every citizen should have access.