NEW YORK – Access to high-speed broadband networks should be declared a basic civil right, says the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Speaking to politicians and United Nations agency chiefs at the second meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in New York earlier this week, ITU secretary-general Dr. Hamadoun Touré said that “affordable, ubiquitous broadband networks will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as networks like transport, water and power”.
“Broadband is the next tipping point, the next truly transformational technology”, Touré added. “It can generate jobs, drive growth and productivity, and underpin long-term economic competitiveness.”
The ITU also presented a report to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon which included a detailed framework for broadband deployment and action points aimed at mobilizing all stakeholders and convincing government leaders to prioritize the roll-out of broadband networks to their citizens. The report also stressed the importance of promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism in the on-line world, while urging governments not to limit market entry, tax broadband and related services too heavily, and to ensure ample availability of spectrum to support mobile broadband growth.
The ITU forecasts a total of 900 million broadband subscribers by the end of 2010, and predicted that mobile broadband will be the access technology of choice for millions in the developing world, where fixed link infrastructure is sparse and can be expensive to deploy.
ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services.
