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SECTORAL POLICIES<br />
209<br />
role for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names<br />
and Numbers (ICANN) to the global multistakeholder<br />
community. 36 In other countries, too, the government<br />
took an early role in building out the national backbone<br />
infrastructure for the internet, as in the Republic<br />
of Korea (box 4.4). This role continues, for instance, in<br />
National Research and Education Networks (NRENs),<br />
where many governments subsidize the higher edubenefited<br />
from public funding from the 1960s until<br />
1993, when the government began “privatizing” the<br />
internet by transitioning the role of the National<br />
Science Foundation to the private sector, including<br />
responsibility for registering domain names and<br />
managing network access points. 35 This process is due<br />
to be completed in September 2016, when the Department<br />
of Commerce is expected to transfer its oversight<br />
Box 4.4 How public-private partnership helped build the internet<br />
backbone in the Republic of Korea<br />
Until other developed countries caught up around mid-<br />
2006, the Republic of Korea’s fixed broadband penetration<br />
was well ahead of its competitors (figure B4.4.1 and table<br />
B4.4.1). In fiber-based ultrafast broadband, it is still ahead<br />
of the game. It has the highest percentage of fiber among<br />
fixed broadband connections (66 percent) of any country<br />
except Japan. Korea also leads in the “internet of things”<br />
and sensor technology (see spotlight 6).<br />
One secret to Korea’s success was a public-private<br />
partnership (PPP) that combined government funding<br />
and policy direction with private infrastructure investment<br />
and management. The Korea Information Infrastructure<br />
program, which ran from 1995 to 2005, and the Broadband<br />
Convergence Network that followed it from 2005 to 2014<br />
saw government investment of just under US$1 billion in each<br />
phase. Private investment dominated in the initial phase, as<br />
the backbone network was established and larger cities were<br />
served. During this phase, government money was used<br />
mainly to purchase bandwidth for government’s own needs.<br />
Since 2005, government spending has been proportionately<br />
greater, as network investment reached out to rural areas,<br />
where there was less incentive for the private sector to take<br />
the lead. The government of Korea has followed up with a<br />
program to upgrade network performance, through the Ultra<br />
Broadband Convergence Network, with around one-third of<br />
total investment coming from the government.<br />
Figure B4.4.1 Broadband in the Republic of Korea and other selected economies<br />
Broadband per 100 inhabitants, 2002 Q4 through 2014 Q2<br />
Percent<br />
45<br />
40<br />
35<br />
30<br />
25<br />
20<br />
15<br />
10<br />
5<br />
0<br />
Republic of<br />
Korea’s early<br />
lead in<br />
broadband<br />
2002 Q4<br />
2003 Q2<br />
2003 Q4<br />
2004 Q2<br />
2004 Q4<br />
2005 Q2<br />
2005 Q4<br />
2006 Q2<br />
2006 Q4<br />
2007 Q2<br />
2007 Q4<br />
2008 Q2<br />
2008 Q4<br />
2009 Q2<br />
2009 Q4<br />
2010 Q2<br />
Year and quarter<br />
Korea, Rep.<br />
Netherlands<br />
Norway<br />
Japan<br />
OECD average<br />
2010 Q4<br />
2011 Q2<br />
2011 Q4<br />
2012 Q2<br />
2012 Q4<br />
2013 Q2<br />
2013 Q4<br />
2014 Q2<br />
Source: OECD Broadband Portal, http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/oecdbroadbandportal.htm. Data at http://bit.do/WDR2016-FigB4_4_1.<br />
Note: The gap between the Republic of Korea and the two nearest countries of the Netherlands and Japan in 2002–04 indicates Korea’s early lead in<br />
broadband. OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.<br />
(Box continues next page)
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