Looking Toward 2022: Unprecedented Opportunities to Close the Global Broadband Gap
Launched one year ago, the Vernonburg Group is a mission-driven organization helping clients close the global broadband connectivity gap – addressing policy and regulation, access to financing, technical feasibility, project management, and program development. Over our first year in business, we have worked with truly amazing clients, all committed to helping close the global digital divide through creation of new technologies, business models, and policies.
It’s gratifying to help large companies introduce new technologies with global reach while also helping small companies expand their internet access networks and solutions and reach more customers. It’s likewise gratifying to help international organizations and governments with data-driven broadband policies. A good example is support to the International Telecommunication Union on its Connect2Recover initiative, helping governments prepare for the new normal, build back better, and increase resiliency. Likewise, a paper recently prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank focuses on how governments can use national broadband planning to further their goals.
As we look to close out 2021 and look forward to 2022, below we share ten observations about current efforts and trends in closing the global broadband gap.
Good Policy Making Begins with High-Quality Open Data: High-quality data is key to having an accurate picture of fixed and mobile broadband availability, adoption, and usage. It is also the basis for good policymaking; however, available data is incomplete and is worst in the rural, unserved, and underserved communities where it is needed most. Governments can learn a lot from simple, consistent data collections from network operators, verified with trusted third-party sources. Broadband data formats and collection and production methods also need to be open to ensure that the data can be trusted.
Resiliency Is Now Viewed More Broadly: The internet as a whole was resilient to shifting traffic patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic has also shown us that resilience should be thought of more broadly to address fixed and mobile broadband gaps. The pandemic has taught that a country’s broadband network cannot be considered resilient if significant portions of its population cannot meaningfully access the internet at home. A well-functioning society and economy require participation of all citizens, not just those fortunate enough to have connectivity.
Targeted Interventions Are Needed to Address Digital Inequities: Much like other forms of inequality, around the world, digital divides continue to disproportionately impact people who are: (1) low-income; (2) located in rural areas; (3) lacking literacy and digital skills; (4) older; and (5) from vulnerable groups such as women and girls, persons with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. Averages often mask inequities – services affordable to “average” consumers are rarely affordable for the lowest-income earners. Efforts to close the digital divide must account for underlying social and economic inequities. Equal access will not necessarily address inequitable access.
Both Fixed and Mobile Broadband Matter: Policy makers around the world – including those located in the least development countries (LDCs) – now recognize that both mobile and fixed broadband must be made universally available and affordable. The global broadband gap will not be resolved if consumers merely have access to 4G mobile networks. Consumers also want high-speed fixed connectivity at home.
Meaningful Connectivity Must Be the Goal: Governments continue to develop policies based on outdated broadband definitions and targets that bear no resemblance to consumers’ current connectivity needs. Access to mobile and fixed broadband must be meaningful, defined as having affordable access to high-speed connectivity without data consumption limits. If we set the bar too low, we will end up widening, not narrowing, the global broadband gap.
The Future Will Be Asymmetrical: Consumers’ behavior throughout the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrably shows that data consumption will remain asymmetrical for the foreseeable future. Broadband definitions based on symmetrical data consumption are unnecessary and will do real harm to competition, reduce innovation, and increase costs for consumers.
Broadband Adoption: Closing the broadband adoption gap will be harder than closing the broadband availability gap. Even if high-speed fixed and mobile broadband is made available to all the world’s population, a large percentage of the world’s population will remain offline. A variety of factors account for the adoption gap (e.g., affordability of both services and devices, relevancy of content, safety and security of internet access, digital skills, and literacy), but we still have a lot to learn about how to how to close the adoption gap. Broadband adoption solutions need to be localized and local communities and community-based organizations are likely best positioned to take the lead addressing these issues.
Access to Financing for Last Mile Networks Remains a Major Challenge: Unprecedented public and private funding is being directed to deploying the building blocks of the internet. While the challenges differ by market, access to financing remains a challenge for early-stage hardware and connectivity companies, especially those located in emerging markets.
The Connectivity Tool Kit is Growing: As we look to 2022, the launch of next generation mobile and fixed wireless networks will accelerate, fiber networks will be deployed more deeply into rural areas with the help of government subsidies, and satellite broadband services will be deployed globally. Mobile and fixed network operators will have more options than ever to utilize different technologies to reach customers located in a variety of settings. Because we know that broadband funding is finite – even in the US – the entire connectivity tool kit will be needed to close fixed and mobile broadband availability gaps.
This is an Unprecedented Moment: The world continues to experience immense suffering as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In part because the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a sharper focus on the need for universal affordable fixed and mobile broadband connectivity, policy makers and regulators are adapting policies (such as increasing network operators’ access to spectrum) and are directing unprecedented funding toward access and adoption programs. This moment should not be wasted.
I remain optimistic that we can overcome great challenges, including vexing digital divides. My colleagues and I at the Vernonburg Group are looking forward to collaborating with you in 2022 to close the global broadband gap, once and for all.
