Imagining Universal Broadband

Michael Hedges September 21, 2010 Follow on Twitter

The internet changed everything. Information changed. Commerce changed. Media changed. More changes are on the way, very big ones.

“Broadband is the next tipping point, the next truly transformational technology,” said ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Touré (September 19) to global leaders assembled at the United Nations in New York. “It can generate jobs, drive growth and productivity, and underpin long-term economic competitiveness. It is also the most powerful tool we have at our disposal in our race to meet the Millennium Development Goals, which are now just five years away.” (See ITU statement here)

The Millennium Development Goals are the centerpiece of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s agenda for making the world a better place, from eradicating poverty and hunger to environmental sustainability and universal primary education. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are integral to reaching those goals. The Broadband Commission for Digital Development has issued its final report calling for national governments to make access to broadband a basic civil right.

“Broadband,” said the report, “needs to be coordinated on a countrywide basis as a national broadband network, which, in order to optimize the benefits to society, can also be an open network to which service providers have access 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.”

The possibilities, summarized in the report titled “Towards a future built on broadband”, are inspiring. From e-commerce and financial transactions to healthcare services and education the UN believes universal broadband access is the answer to universal needs. Information will travel faster and smarter. Intellectual property rights are mentioned as a policy concern.

The report cites indicators of increased GDP growth rate from broadband development. “For developing countries in the low- and middle-income bracket, broadband is a key driver of economic growth and, according to a study by the World Bank, provides a boost of 1.38 additional percentage points to GDP growth for every 10% increase in broadband penetration.”

“Fast broadband is digital oxygen, essential for Europe's prosperity and well-being,” said European Commission (EC) vice president for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, (September 20).

Commissioner Kroes has proposed a 2013 deadline for EU Member States opening “sufficient spectrum” for mobile broadband delivery.  That piece of spectrum, referred to as 800 MHz, has been allocated, principally, to terrestrial analogue television. While most EU Member States have now or will soon close in on analogue to digital switchover, several aren’t even close. When switchover is complete, spectrum auctions will determine what, exactly, will occupy that valuable space of ether, presumably mobile telecom operators.

The oxygen for telecoms, of course, is money. “While it is right to expect telecoms companies to invest in new and more efficient networks, and it is right to have a socially inclusive system, it might be unfair to force the telecoms companies to fund the entire exercise,” said Commissioner Kroes at the Nordic Broadband Forum (September 17), “We should keep in mind that universal broadband offers benefits beyond the telecoms sector.”

“This would be a recognition of the fact that ensuring universal broadband access,” said Commissioner Kroes, “also covering remote and scarcely populated areas where the market alone would not deliver, is a basic need.”

Telecom trade body European Competitive Telecommunication Association (ECTA) was particularly overjoyed that “the Commission has made proposals to ensure that spectrum is allocated in a way that promotes competition.” The ECTA statement (September 20) noted the “uncompetitive outcome” of recent German spectrum auctions that favored incumbent telecoms. The group also called on the European Parliament to free that spectrum in a hurry.

Mostly, though, telecoms are overjoyed that the EC wants public financing of this expensive infrastructure. Commissioner Kroes pointed the way from “sector-specific universal service funding towards a publicly financed system.” Next spring the EC and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will “unveil new broadband finance instruments,” reported Reuters. Required investment in Europe for broadband service by 2020 could be €200 million or more. The vast majority of that cash – 80% says the EC – goes to “civil engineering costs.” 

Finland is the only EU Member State to declare 1MB broadband access a basic right. Conceptually, policy makers agree that broadband internet – followed by mobile broadband – are economic and social game-changers. The services envisioned, glimpses available now in the richest regions, promise great new benefits, so important no person should be left behind. The advantages of mobile broadband are mythmaking. Assessing broadband access as a basic right means leveling economic and social rules, not to forget vast political considerations.

If the goals expressed by the UN and the EC are even partly met – money will always be an issue – the internet will connect more people to more people. Everybody wins, right? Especially Facebook.

See also in ftm Knowledge

We've Gone Mobile - and nothing's the same

Consumers have taken to smartphones in huge numbers. Competition among device makers, telecoms and content producers has created an insatiable demand. With so much volume markets are fragmenting... and nothing's the same. 132 pages PDF (February 2011)

Order here

Media Business Models Emerging

After a rough transition media business models are emerging. Challenges remain. There are Web models, mobile models, free models, pay models and a few newer models. It makes for exciting times. This ftm Knowledge file examines emerging business models and the speed-of-light changes. 123 pages PDF (May 2010)

Order here

Media in Spain - Diverse and Challenged – new

Media in Spain is steeped in tradition. yet challenged by diversity. Publishers hold great influence, broadcasters competing. New media has been slow to rise and business models for all are under stress. Rich in language and culture, Spain's media is reaching into the future and finding more than expected. 123 pages, PDF. January 2018

Order here

The Campaign Is On - Elections and Media

Elections campaigns are big media events. Candidates and issues are presented, analyzed and criticized in broadcast and print. Media is now more of a participant in elections than ever. This ftm Knowledge file reports on news coverage, advertising, endorsements and their effect on democracy at work. 84 pages. PDF (September 2017)

Order here

Fake News, Hate Speech and Propaganda

The institutional threat of fake news, hate speech and propaganda is testing the mettle of those who toil in news media. Those three related evils are not new, by any means, but taken together have put the truth and those reporting it on the back foot. Words matter. This ftm Knowledge file explores that light. 48 pages, PDF (March 2017)

Order here

More ftm Knowledge files here

Become an ftm Individual or Corporate Member to order Knowledge Files at no charge. JOIN HERE!