broadband strategies handbook.pdf - Khazar University

Countries around the world are providing increasing access to onlineservices, including the provision of basic services, the use of multimediatechnology to promote two-way exchanges, and the use of technology tofacilitate consultation with citizens on public policy issues. Although theRepublic of Korea, the United States, and Canada take the top three placeswith regard to the number of online government services available, severalcountries have made significant progress over the last two years, includingBahrain, Chile, Colombia, and Singapore. Moreover, the use of mobilephones for e-government services, such as alert messages, applications, andfee payments, is almost as popular in developing countries as it is in developedcountries (UNPAN 2010).What Market Trends Are Fostering BroadbandDeployment?Broadband connectivity is expanding globally. Between 2005 and 2010, theaverage wireline broadband penetration rate grew 59 percent—from 3.3 to 8subscribers per 100 inhabitants (ITU-D 2010). The number of mobilebroadband subscriptions worldwide is expected to reach the 1 billion markin 2011, with total mobile subscriptions topping 5 billion. 9 As a result of suchgrowth, the estimated number of wireline broadband subscriptions reachedapproximately 555 million in 2010, up from 471 million in 2009. A sizablenumber of these new subscriptions came from Brazil, the Russian Federation,India, and China (known as the BRIC countries), which have collectivelydoubled their subscriber base in the last four years. 10 Likewise, thenumber of wireless broadband users has also expanded rapidly. In 2010, thenumber of third-generation (3G) mobile broadband subscriptions rose to940 million, an increase from 703 million in 2009. As figure 1.3 shows, thenumber of wireless broadband subscribers exceeded the number of wirelinebroadband subscribers for the first time in 2008, and there were an estimated70 percent more mobile broadband subscribers than wirelinebroadband subscribers in 2010.Despite these advances, however, a “digital divide” remains betweendeveloped and developing countries; only 4.4 per 100 people in developingcountries are broadband subscribers compared to 24.6 in developed countries.In effect, wireline broadband deployments in many developing countriesare a decade behind deployments in developed countries. Given thecost and resources required for the deployment of wireline broadband,wireless broadband is more likely to be the broadband solution adopted byusers in developing countries, particularly in rural and remote areas.Building Broadband 19