3.4 billion people live within range of a mobile network but lack a device to make the connection
(2021/09/21)
- Reference: 1632206111
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/21/itu_unesco_2021_state_of_broadband_report/
- Source link:
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development has suggested that efforts to close the digital divide should shift from providing connectivity to ensuring access to affordable devices and the education that will help people put them to work.
The Commission was formed in 2010 by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and given the job of promoting internet access.
That effort is reflected in internet user penetration rates of 51 per cent globally but just 19.5 per cent of people in the world's least-developed countries, as detailed in the organisation's [1]2021 State of Broadband report [PDF].
[2]
3.7 billion people are therefore not connected to the net, but the report says 85 per cent of them are within range of a mobile network.
[3]
[4]
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who co-chairs the Commission, therefore stated: "Digital cooperation needs to go beyond access to broadband. We also need to close the gap in the adoption and use of affordable devices and services, in accessible content, and in digital literacy."
[5]O-RAN Alliance: Nokia downplays decision to take breather as critics worry over fate of key industry groups
[6]China passes half a billion 5G subscriptions and adds at least 190k new 5G base stations in six months
[7]America tops ITU's Global Cyber Security Index, UK in tie for second with Saudi Arabia
Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union and a co-vice chair on the Commission, weighed in with his opinion that "digital technologies and services, which have proven so essential during the crisis, are still out of reach, unaffordable, irrelevant, too complicated to use, or not secure enough for far too many people around the world."
The State of Broadband report outlines many tactics designed to address Zhao and Kagame’s concerns.
The ITU, for its part, will start three working groups to attack the problems outlined in the report. One will focus on smartphone access, another on "AI Capacity Building" and the third will ponder "Data for Learning".
[8]
The Vodafone Group will co-chair the smartphone access working group, alongside the ITU. Vodafone has also committed to "two pilot projects on device affordability" and recommended that digital inclusivity requires pervasive 4G and the recycling of spectrum used by 2G to enable rollout of the newer standard. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/pol/S-POL-BROADBAND.23-2021-PDF-E.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUmtZVNK-4f3p0xcMfqtVwAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/02/nokia_o_ran_decision/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/20/china_5g_progress/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/30/america_global_cyber_security_index_2020/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUmtZVNK-4f3p0xcMfqtVwAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Commission was formed in 2010 by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and given the job of promoting internet access.
That effort is reflected in internet user penetration rates of 51 per cent globally but just 19.5 per cent of people in the world's least-developed countries, as detailed in the organisation's [1]2021 State of Broadband report [PDF].
[2]
3.7 billion people are therefore not connected to the net, but the report says 85 per cent of them are within range of a mobile network.
[3]
[4]
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who co-chairs the Commission, therefore stated: "Digital cooperation needs to go beyond access to broadband. We also need to close the gap in the adoption and use of affordable devices and services, in accessible content, and in digital literacy."
[5]O-RAN Alliance: Nokia downplays decision to take breather as critics worry over fate of key industry groups
[6]China passes half a billion 5G subscriptions and adds at least 190k new 5G base stations in six months
[7]America tops ITU's Global Cyber Security Index, UK in tie for second with Saudi Arabia
Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union and a co-vice chair on the Commission, weighed in with his opinion that "digital technologies and services, which have proven so essential during the crisis, are still out of reach, unaffordable, irrelevant, too complicated to use, or not secure enough for far too many people around the world."
The State of Broadband report outlines many tactics designed to address Zhao and Kagame’s concerns.
The ITU, for its part, will start three working groups to attack the problems outlined in the report. One will focus on smartphone access, another on "AI Capacity Building" and the third will ponder "Data for Learning".
[8]
The Vodafone Group will co-chair the smartphone access working group, alongside the ITU. Vodafone has also committed to "two pilot projects on device affordability" and recommended that digital inclusivity requires pervasive 4G and the recycling of spectrum used by 2G to enable rollout of the newer standard. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/pol/S-POL-BROADBAND.23-2021-PDF-E.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUmtZVNK-4f3p0xcMfqtVwAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/02/nokia_o_ran_decision/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/20/china_5g_progress/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/30/america_global_cyber_security_index_2020/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUmtZVNK-4f3p0xcMfqtVwAAAFc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Voda who?
lglethal
Yeah I dont think they're particularly talking about the UK here. Unless you really think BT controls mobile networks throughout the developing world?
Rather like
Anonymous Coward
Trying to find a Public Toilet in Brussels.
The fundamental problem
Mike 137
This kind of divide occurs to a great extent because of cultural confusion between the World and the G20 (from the perspective of the G20).
But the telecoms divide dwindles to nothing compared with the fact that almost 40% of the World's population still lives on less than $2 a day.
However the confusion is perfectly illustrated by a Goooooooooogle search for "$2 a day". The majority of the results on the first two pages refer solely to America, as if poverty didn't exist anywhere other than in the land of the free.
Voda who?
Problems with digital divide are less due to customer technology confusion than BT market 1 lockin.
The premise that business will ever provide a quality service when they do not have to is false, especially if they are making money from not doing so.
Where business has a monopoly, history has shown that they will do nothing that might remove their profitable control over a market.
If this commission had wanted to be taken seriously they should have kept any involvement with Vodafone a secret as I would suggest that too many people believe that company are untrustworthy and their inclusion makes this just a marketing exercise. I can understand Vodafone wanting to change their public perception but I would suggest that after decades of customer abuse that it is going to take a little more effort.