broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

and services throughout the population. 1 In numerous countries, chronic,acute telephone service shortages gave way to rapid growth once marketorientedsector reforms were adopted. Mobile phones, initially a premiumvoice service, now provide a platform for a wide range of information andcommunication services and applications, covering more than 80 percent ofthe world’s population. The Internet has been growing even faster.Each new generation of communication services has diffused throughoutthe population faster than the previous one. Following sector reforms,the number of wireline telephones per capita took over 30 years to multiplytenfold, but it is now in decline worldwide. In contrast, the number ofmobile phones took about 12 years to multiply tenfold, and the number ofInternet users took only about eight years (table 4.1).However, differences in access to and adoption of wireline and mobiletelephony have remained; the same is also occurring with broadband. Moreover,the private sector often has insufficient interest in investing in broadbandin rural and remote areas, even with government incentives. Wheremarket-oriented sector reform falls short of meeting all development needs,public sector support for the deployment, ownership, and operation of abroadband network may be deemed necessary. This may be particularlytrue where broadband infrastructure is viewed as an essential public utilityin which the public sector, such as the local government, is responsible fordeployment (ITU 2003, 45).Thus in each country, policy makers should determine whether privatesector–led broadband development in the context of market-orientedreform will achieve economic and social goals or whether more direct, targetedgovernment intervention is necessary. Such an approach is reflectedTable 4.1 Information and Communication Services in Low- andMiddle-Income Countries, 1980–2010Indicator 1980 1990 2000 2010Population (billions) 3.6 4.4 5.1 5.8Gross national income per capita(constant 2000 US$) 811 912 1,147 1,811Wireline phone lines per100 inhabitants 1.4 2.7 8.3 12.0Mobile phones per 100 inhabitants — 0.9 4.6 70.0Internet users per 100 inhabitants — — 1.5 21.0Sources: ITU, World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators database; World Bank, ICT At-a-Glancedatabase.Note: — = Not available.Extending Universal Broadband Access and Use 157