Universal Access Strategy and Broadband Development

The purpose behind implementing a universal access plan must be reflected in the bit rate provided under the relevant broadband development scheme. Many of the functions that universal access seeks to provide, including telemedicine and tele-learning, require access at up to 100 Mbps, while standard applications such as email and web browsing can function speeds as low as 0.5 Mbps.* High broadband upload rates facilitate a collaborative online environment by encouraging user contribution, while high download rates enhance the accessibility of content. High bit transfer rates enable interactive functions such as real time feedback and video calling.

It is advisable that access to ‘high-speed broadband’ be specified in universal access models. Even where the headline rate is sufficient, frequently consumer experience of a broadband connection will be substantially less. Other factors, including throughput and latency must also be taken into account. For instance, the Ethernet port of an ADSL modem will report connectivity at its particular line rate while the actual connection rate is determined by the distance from the DSL access multiplexer in the exchange building and the quality of the copper lines. Similarly, a wireless connection rate will depend on the use of others on the same access network and the backhaul capacity from the relevant base station to the core network.

In some instances there is an additional issue of service providers submitting false compliance reports on the quality of broadband services they offer. In India, the telecommunications regulator has addressed this by imposing fines on providers found to have made such statements.* In South Korea, all buildings are to be designed to enable high-speed connections, and assigned ratings to communicate to potential residents the bit rate supported.* 

Government spectrum allocation decisions impact wireless service quality, while fixed line services can be improved by upgrading the network quality and ensuring customers have access to sufficiently advanced modem technology.

Countries at times adopt different target bit rates based on the forecasted use in different areas. This may particularly be the case where governments are required to fund or subsidize infrastructure or subscription costs. In Australia, the National Broadband Network that is currently under construction plans to provide broadband access at bit rates of up to 100 Mbps. Conversely, in the European Union the required base rate is to be 30 Mbps, although the Digital Agenda aims to encourage 50 per cent of subscribers to pay for access at over 100 Mbps. In Malaysia broadband and universal service policies are separate, and levels of access are terraced by region. Under the HSBB service, households under the designated high economic impact areas receive minimum of 10 Mbps, while businesses in these areas will receive up to 1000 Mbps.

Connecting individual users and households to a broadband network represents optimal service penetration. Household connections overcome restrictions to access in other settings such as age, employment situation or educational background.* Broadband usage by households has increased as access costs become more affordable and service coverage extends.* Household internet access in developed countries has consistently been higher than in the developing world.* In 2011, 70.3 per cent of households in developed countries had internet access, compared with 20.5 per cent of developing countries.* The Broadband Commission for Digital Development (Broadband Commission), a joint initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), targets 40 per cent of houses in developing countries to have internet access by 2015.* Studies in the United States found that home broadband users overwhelmingly valued the social aspects of internet use, citing the ease of communicating with family and friends and content sharing applications as the most important functions.* Access to information, news and entertainment are also important, as is the ability to engage in e-commerce through shopping and selling goods online. The educational value of home internet access is frequently highlighted, as research has shown that children with internet access at home perform better in school.* In many countries, the extension of direct fixed line service networks to individual homes is included in universal access targets. Governments have adopted a variety of strategies in order to attain such connections.

It is particularly important in countries which extend networks to individual and households that customers exhibit sufficient demand for broadband services. In situations where broadband networks grow organically without regulatory intervention, broadband take-up and coverage figures should follow a similar trajectory, as providers will improve upon the service they offer in order to meet demand. Where universal service capacity is achieved through government encouragement, individual users must take up paid subscriptions with service providers in order for models to remain sustainable. A United States Federal Communications Commission Report on home broadband use cited cost, lack of digital literacy and a feeling access was irrelevant to a person’s life as reasons for not taking up available broadband services available.* Cost is addressed below in Part 4.2.4.2, while this section will explore examples of the measures adopted by governments to increase the relevance of broadband services to people’s lives and improve digital literacy.

There is a direct correlation between high household broadband use and areas in which a holistic universal service strategy has been implemented.* While a recent OECD report has suggested that governments need to play more than a ‘push’ role of providing ICT infrastructure and development of a domestic ICT sector,* it is also important that they adopt ‘pull’ strategies aimed at promoting digital literacy, establishing an appropriate legal framework surrounding internet use and fostering the development of local content.

A similar project was undertaken in South Korea. The Korean government’s broadband strategy envisioned a ‘knowledge-based economy’ in which every citizen would have access to a personal computer and government would expedite development of an information infrastructure. Several initiatives were put in place, including regulatory efforts to encourage infrastructure investment by incumbents and market entrants, subsidies for low income citizens to purchase computers, and free digital literacy programs encouraging internet use as a means of obtaining information, providing entertainment, and accessing government services. South Korea further stimulated demand by targeting much of this training to homemakers, who are typically married women not in the workforce but who have a large amount of discretion in the organisation of household finances. The theory was that by convincing homemakers of the benefits of broadband, demand would be stimulated for household uptake and ensure the next generation of South Koreans would have access to broadband as their parents accessed such services. The targeted training was a successful approach to driving broadband uptake as the proportion of South Korean women who utilise broadband is much higher than their counterparts in Singapore, China, Taiwan and the rest of the region.* In this way, top down and bottom up approaches were combined so that incentives to improve service to citizens would be met by increased demand for services. South Korea now leads the developing world in household internet connections. By June 2011, 97.2 per cent of households in South Korea were connected to the internet.* 

Other governments have implemented regulation to directly create demand:

• In Japan it was mandated that all administrative agencies must buy their broadband services from the Next Generation National Broadband Network;
• In Sweden, companies that purchase PCs for their employees receive subsidies and household that install broadband can receive tax deductions for the costs of installation up to approximately US$650. Computer ownership and the cost of hardware and software upgrades have been found to be a factor contributing to lower broadband uptake;* 
• In Denmark broadband can be offered to employees as a tax-free fringe benefit which was a tailored demand creation mechanisms which took into account the relatively high income tax rates in Denmark and found that providing broadband as a form of employment benefit would be more effective at stimulating uptake;* and
• In Bahrain, the government has a policy of encouraging the use of the internet to deliver government services and involve citizens in decision-making. Over 200 services are offered online, including payment of utility bills and traffic fines, tourist visa applications, driver’s licence renewals and student exam result delivery.

While household access is simpler to measure, individual access figures incorporating the access of individual household members may be a more relevant developmental indicator. Many governments include mobile broadband penetration in assessments of whether universal service is available.* Individuals with mobile subscriptions may not have access to a household connection, yet still have access to broadband services. In many areas across all stages of development, mobile broadband subscriptions have overtaken fixed line ones. By the end of 2011, the United Nations estimated that 45 per cent of the world’s population was covered by a high-speed (3G) mobile broadband service.* 

Mobile technology can overcome major infrastructure barriers to internet access, and access devices are cheaper and more portable than computers. However, capacity, quality and data transfer rate can remain problematic. The expansion of mobile broadband subscriptions needs to be coupled with adequate investment in robust backbone networks, as well as a careful spectrum allocation plan. The broadband capabilities of mobile devices should also be examined. Some functions, like reading and constructing long documents, may be sufficiently necessary to achieving universal access goals to warrant computer broadband connection being included in a country’s definition of universal access.

Continued growth in smartphone adoption poses a challenge to extending universal broadband access and use as a number of previous studies have shown that an increase in the number of smartphones leads to a decrease in fixed telecommunications lines.* The relatively recent advent of smartphones which utilise 3G broadband technology poses the question as to whether a similar substitutability of access methods will occur, leading to a decrease in fixed connections. Put another way, the question is will consumers choose to access broadband simply from 3G smartphones rather than from computer broadband connections? There is a paucity of hard evidence as to whether this is the case although some industry analysts have predicted that smartphones will come to be utilised in a complimentary way to computer-based broadband connections.* Arguably there is still a need for fixed broadband that is not met by 3G broadband, particularly for increasingly popular content services and business functions which still remain challenging to access on smartphone technology. Fixed broadband connected to adequate backhaul networks is better able to cope with large volumes of data traffic which is a challenge for mobile technology and fixed access is better able to service business clients with increasingly complex applications to run.

Community access centres allow individuals to access internet services either free of charge or at an appropriate rate. The size and frequency of these centres can be adjusted according to the requirements of individual communities. Computer education programs can be run from the same centres, teaching people to draw optimal benefit from their internet access and creating demand for broadband connections in homes. Demand can later be met by the expansion of national broadband networks to homes or through private financing of last mile connections from the access centre node.

Some countries prioritise access in educational and governmental institutions. Broadband services open access to a large network of sources of information, including multimedia sources and online tutorials. These are seen to smooth out inherent disadvantages of some learning environments by allowing learners access to the same resources and ‘teachers’ from anywhere with a broadband connection.* Institutional access may also be material in increasing content available in certain languages, a factor which has been recognised as important to stimulating demand for broadband services.* 

In regional areas some form of external involvement is frequently required to ensure that adequate service is provided. The high costs of establishing a network and small pool of potential subscribers make expansion into these regions an unattractive business prospect. However, once network infrastructure is established, service providers need only pay maintenance and operational costs. This substantially reduces the investment required from service providers to enter new markets.

In regional areas the costs associated with rolling out and maintaining a network will differ according to the technology used. Policymakers should consider factors like the expected life span of technology deployed and potential for that technology to be upgraded or progressively replaced as technology developments and demand for broadband increases. The relative location of broadband connections to access nodes and the major network backbone should play a pivotal role in the choice of telecommunications infrastructure deployed, as this will significantly affect the quality of broadband access.

Service availability is the primary concern for achieving universal broadband access, but cost is also relevant. Pricing may also impact the rate of household internet use, which is frequently prioritised below business and institutional access. Studies of dial-up users on lower incomes found that cost was a major factor influencing the decision not to switch to broadband and that increasing household income led to increased demand for broadband technologies.* In developing countries, broadband access costs can account for 60 – 80 per cent of the total costs of owning a computer.* By contrast, the United Nations estimates that entry-level broadband services in developing countries should cost less than five per cent of the average monthly income in order to be considered affordable and to drive uptake.* There has been some progress towards meeting this target, as access prices have fallen in over 120 countries in 2008-2009 and policymakers in developing countries have signalled their intent to make affordable pricing a key policy issue in order to drive broadband uptake.* Once universal service is established, it is more likely service provider competition and related pricing and service levels will gain prominence in access debates.

Depending on levels of computer and internet penetration in a country, a computer-distribution program may either reduce disadvantages to certain groups where a large part of the population has access, or to provide an advantage to students where the general population does not have access. The ‘Home Access’ scheme, introduced in the United Kingdom in 2010, gave 270,000 low-income families a free computer and broadband access for one year.