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<h3>Dear All, </h3>
<br>
This will be one of the issues on the agenda for both the IGF and
the Pre-IGF high level ministerial forum upcoming taking place in
September 27-30. <br>
<br>
Both UNESCO and ITU leadership will be at both events in Nairobi. <br>
<br>
<br>
Best regards<br>
<br>
Alice<br>
<br>
<h3><br>
</h3>
<h3><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/new_broadband_commission_report_seeks_to_bring_high_speed_connectivity_to_worlds_poorest_communities/">http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/new_broadband_commission_report_seeks_to_bring_high_speed_connectivity_to_worlds_poorest_communities/</a>
<br>
</h3>
<h3><br>
</h3>
<h3>New Broadband Commission report seeks to bring high-speed
connectivity to world’s poorest communities</h3>
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<div class="news-single-img video"> </div>
<h4>Advocates a mix of appropriate technologies, innovative
financing models, and an emphasis on training and local, quality
content</h4>
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<div class="news-content clearfix">
<p class="bodytext">Governments around the world need to formulate
and implement national multi-sectoral broadband plans rapidly –
or risk being seriously disadvantaged in today’s increasingly
high-speed digital environment, according to a new report
released today by the <a
href="http://www.broadbandcommission.org/" target="_blank">Broadband
Commission for Digital Development</a> during its third
meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">Entitled <i>Broadband: A Platform for
Progress</i>, the report advocates a coordinated, nationwide
approach to broadband development that more closely resembles
the development of national railway or electricity networks than
the more laissez-faire, market-driven approach that has
generally characterized the roll-out of mobile cellular
technology.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">“To optimize the benefits to society,
broadband should be coordinated on a countrywide basis,
promoting facilities-based competition and 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. Developing isolated
projects or piecemeal, duplicated networks is not only
inefficient, it delays provision of infrastructure that is
becoming as crucial in the modern world as roads or electricity
supplies,” the report says.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">For emerging economies and developing
countries, wireless broadband looks likely to be the platform of
choice, bringing services like micro-banking, telemedicine and
fast sharing of information in local languages to communities,
no matter how isolated.
</p>
<p class="bodytext"> “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,” said UNESCO
Director-General Irina Bokova.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">“However, 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,” she added. “This means education, it means
media literacy, it means ensuring that all marginalized 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.” </p>
<p class="bodytext">The report makes a strong case for broadband
as a driver of economic growth and new jobs, citing country case
studies and reports by leading consultancies that point to
increased employment opportunities, higher labour productivity
and a strong stimulus to GDP. In low and middle income
countries, for example, the report cites World Bank figures
indicating a boost of 1.38 additional percentage points to GDP
growth for every 10-percentage point increase in broadband
penetration – and effect more pronounced than any other
telecommunication service.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">“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,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun
Touré. “This new Broadband Commission 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.”
</p>
<p class="bodytext">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. Such networks are already revolutionizing
inventory control and fleet management, and are set to play a
growing role in key social sectors like 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. </p>
<p class="bodytext">The cost of broadband remains a problem in
many nations. Recent ITU figures show that while in the top 21
most wired countries, broadband access costs less than 1% of an
average monthly salary, in the least wired nations – which
include the world’s poorest countries – access to broadband can
cost double an entire month’s salary or more. That prohibitive
pricing means that while advanced markets enjoy broadband
penetration of over 30%, most of the world struggles with 5%
penetration or less.
</p>
<p class="bodytext"><b>Prices falling, but most of the world
remains unconnected</b>
</p>
<p class="bodytext">Positive findings released by ITU last week
show that, on average, consumers are paying 50% less for
high-speed Internet connections than they were two years ago.
However, this fall is mainly due to price decreases in
developing countries, with steep declines often reflecting the
extremely high cost of broadband in the developing world.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">The top countries with the cheapest broadband
prices relative to average national monthly income are all
high-income economies: Monaco, Macau (China), Liechtenstein, the
US and Austria. Customers in 31 countries – all of them highly
industrialized nations – pay only the equivalent of 1% or less
of average monthly GNI per capita for an entry-level broadband
connection. </p>
<p class="bodytext">At the other end of the scale, in 19
countries, a broadband connection costs more than 100% of
monthly GNI per capita. And in a handful of developing countries
the monthly price of a fast Internet connection is still more
than ten times monthly average income.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">Despite encouraging trends, Africa continues
to stand out for its relatively high prices. Fixed broadband
Internet access in particular remains prohibitively high, and,
across the region as a whole, still represented almost three
times the monthly average per capita income. Only one out of ten
people in Africa is using the Internet.
</p>
<p class="bodytext"> </p>
<p class="bodytext"><b>About the Broadband Commission for Digital
Development:</b>
</p>
<p class="bodytext">The Broadband Commission for Digital
Development was established in 2010 by UNESCO and the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), with the support
of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to promote the
adoption of broadband-friendly practice and policies. It is
chaired jointly by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos
Slim Hélu, Honorary Lifetime Chairman of Grupo Carso. UNESCO
Director-General Irina Bokova and ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun
I. Touré serve as vice chairs. They are joined by top-level
figures fromgovernment, industry and international agencies, as
well as those concerned with the content that will be delivered
through broadband networks, from education to entertainment. </p>
<p class="bodytext"><b>About UNESCO</b>
</p>
<p class="bodytext">The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United
Nations. Established in 1946, UNESCO works for world peace and
international understanding through its key programme areas:
education, natural and social sciences, culture, and
communication and information.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">UNESCO aims to create the conditions for
dialogue and cooperation between the peoples of the world, based
upon commonly shared values and respect for individual
civilizations and cultures. Through diverse and extensive
strategies and projects, UNESCO is actively pursuing the
Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the
Millennium Development Goals, placing particular emphasis on
initiatives which focus on eradicating poverty and promoting
human rights; achieving universal primary education and
eliminating gender disparity in education; helping countries to
implement national strategies for sustainable development;
preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage and halting
the loss of environmental resources. Promoting activities and
mobilizing resources in favour of Africa is also a priority of
the Organization.
</p>
<p class="bodytext">Through its standard-setting action, UNESCO
works towards universal agreements on the ethical, normative and
intellectual issues of our time. </p>
<p class="bodytext"><b>About ITU</b>
</p>
<p class="bodytext">ITU is the leading United Nations agency for
information and communication technology. For over 145 years,
ITU has coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum,
promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite
orbits, worked to improve communication infrastructure in the
developing world, and established the worldwide standards that
foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of
communications systems. From broadband networks to
new-generation wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime
navigation, radio astronomy, satellite-based meteorology and
converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and broadcasting
technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world.</p>
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