UN's Broadband Commission sets out roadmap for ubiquitous broadband

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 07 June 2011 13:16

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development, set up by the International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO, has produced a second report emphasising the essential role for broadband in recommending strategies governments should adopt to ensure adequate broadband infrastructure.

The report, Broadband a Platform for Progress, provides a roadmap of various policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands '” allocation of additional radio-frequency spectrum, for example. It says: "A new vision is needed which encompasses reduced regulatory burdens, innovative incentives, and coordinated efforts by all links in the broadband value chain, in order to unleash opportunities for commercial deployment."

On some aspects the Australian Government's NBN strategy scores well, but on others the report is less supportive. It says "To achieve the expansion of broadband requires top-level political leadership and joint efforts by the private sector and by governments. Most important of all, these 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 also delays provision of infrastructure that is becoming as crucial in the modern world as roads or electricity supplies.

The NBN and the Government's just announced National Digital Economy Strategy both follow these recommendations. However the report is not in favour of monopoly infrastructure, saying: "To optimise 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. Eventually, this can lead to broadband becoming a highly advanced and fundamental infrastructure for modern society."

Australia's National Digital Economy Strategy set a number of goals but none of these stipulated availability of broadband services at specific bandwidths, and shadow communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull immediately criticised it by claiming that all of these goals could be met with much less bandwidth than the NBN will offer.

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