Archived Newsroom • Press Release |
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Broadband Commission Open Letter to G20: Bring broadband to the
world
Governments urged to prioritize roll-out of
high-speed infrastructure, services and applications
Geneva, 15 June 2012 – The
Broadband Commission for Digital
Development today issued an
Open Letter
to G20 leaders urging them to do all they can to promote the development of
the broadband networks, applications and services that will serve as the
catalyst for future socio-economic growth.
“In the Information Society of the 21st century, countries must make the
necessary investments to enable their citizens to participate in and benefit
from the digital economy and global innovation – or risk exclusion,” the Letter
warns.
Equating the importance of broadband to essential utilities like water,
roads, rail and electricity, the Letter states that governments have a key role
to play in stimulating broadband deployment by putting in place pro-competitive
and pro-investment policies, lowering barriers to entry and making direct
investment, where appropriate. It also stresses the fundamental role of the
private sector in driving the roll-out of networks and services, and fuelling
ongoing innovation.
“This meeting of the G20 is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of
the need to promote ‘broadband inclusion for all’ and move it to the top of the
international policy agenda,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré.
“We must act now to ensure that future generations from all countries, and
across all social strata, can take full advantage of the unprecedented power of
broadband to extend access to knowledge, to culture, and to vital social
services like healthcare, education and e-government.”
Several G20 leaders, such as
President Barack Obama are already prioritizing this leadership challenge:
“[A key] step in winning the future is rebuilding America. To attract new
businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most reliable ways to move
people, goods, and information – from high-speed rail to high-speed Internet,”
he said.
G20 member Australia was one of the first nations to make broadband a
priority, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently stating that the
Australian National Broadband Network will “make a difference for everyone
around the nation … in terms of our economy, we know that every 10 percentage
point increase in broadband penetration delivers in the order of a 1.3 per cent
one-off growth boost to the economy.”
Latest ITU figures show that 2.4 billion people are using the Internet. There
are now over one billion mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide, and mobile is
set to be the access platform of choice for most people in the developing world,
where fixed line penetration remains low. However, well over half the world’s
people – from those in developing countries, to those living in geographically
isolated communities, to marginalized groups like persons living with
disabilities, the elderly, the illiterate and house-bound women – are yet to get
online. “That makes digital inclusion an important issue that needs to be
tackled by every country, not just the world’s poorer nations,” said Dr Touré.
The Broadband Commission will be actively promoting its message of ‘broadband
for all’ at other key international gatherings this year, including the Rio+20
Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in June and the United
Nations General Assembly in New York September.
A copy of the letter is available at
www.broadbandcommission.org/documents/bbcom-g20.pdf
For more information, please contact:
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Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations
and Public Information
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