broadband connectivity in the pacific - escap · 2018. 4. 6. · improving regional broadband...

IMPROVING REGIONAL BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY THROUGH THE

ASIA-PACIFIC INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY IN THE PACIFIC

Atsuko Okuda Chief

ICT and Development Section ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1-2 November 2017



Outline: 1. Trends in Broadband connectivity 2. Drivers of Broadband connectivity in

Pacific Island Countries 3. Conclusions and policy implications

2



Trends: Fixed Broadband subscriptions 3

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators Database (2017).



4

Trends: Fixed Broadband subscriptions in the Pacific

Fixed Broadband Subs. per 100 Inhabitants




5

Trends: Mobile Broadband subscriptions




6

Trends: Mobile Broadband subscriptions in the Pacific

Mobile Broadband Subs. per 100 Inhabitants




7

Submarine Cable Coverage Number of Submarine fiber-optic cables and 3G coverage, 2016

Number of Submarine fibre-optic cables and LTE/WiMaX coverage, 2016

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunica=ons/ICT Indicators Database (2017).



8

Broadband Affordability in the Pacific Country

Mobile Broadband Fixed Broadband Capacity Access Affordability Access Affordability Broadband Economic Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Mobile-cellular sub-basket as per cent of GNI p.c.

Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Fixed broadband sub-basket as a per cent of GNI p.c.

International Internet bandwidth per Internet user

GNI per capita (constant 2010 US$)*

Tonga

50 3 2 9 14,623 3,669

Fiji

48 4 1 4 27,399 3,539

Samoa

10 5 1 11 7,842 3,430

Marshall Islands

n/a

6 2 14 75,844 3,797

Vanuatu

19 8 2 21 8,477 2,860

Kiribati

0.3 8 0.1 76 2,916 2,170

Micronesia (Fed. States of)

n/a

10 3 12 9,117 2,944

Solomon Islands

11 10 0.2 180 4,277 944

Papua New Guinea

6 12 0.2 12 9,122 1,332

Pacific average (simple)

16 8 1 41 18,124 2,627



9

Affordability, Access and Capacity Affordability, access and capacity of international broadband connectivity, World sample

Countries with less affordable, lower Fixed-‐broadband access, and smaller interna=onal bandwidth capacity.

Countries with more affordable, higher Fixed-‐broadband access, and bigger interna=onal bandwidth capacity.

Countries with less affordable, lower Mobile-‐broadband access, and smaller interna=onal bandwidth capacity.

Countries with more affordable, higher Mobile-‐broadband access, and bigger interna=onal bandwidth capacity.



Drivers of Broadband Connectivity in Pacific Island Countries: Electricity

• Access to reliable and affordable energy source (electricity)

10



Drivers of Broadband Connectivity in Pacific Island Countries: E-Services

• E-government services create latent demand

11



• Capacity and skills to use and understand the opportunities of being connected.

12

Drivers of Broadband Connectivity in Pacific Island Countries: Capacity



• Access to affordable ICT devices (especially for net-importer countries).

13

Drivers of Broadband Connectivity in Pacific Island Countries: Access



14

Impact of Natural Disasters Average Annual Loss in Pacific island countries by hazard type

Asia-Pacific countries with high exposure to, and risk from, natural disasters Global Ranking Natural Disasters Exposure

1 Vanuatu 2 Tonga 3 Philippines 4 Japan 5 Costa Rica 6 Brunei Darussalam 7 Mauritius 8 Guatemala 9 El Salvador

10 Bangladesh 11 Chile 12 Netherlands 13 Solomon Islands 14 Fiji 15 Cambodia

Source: Produced by ESCAP based, United Nations University - Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) (2016), World Risk Report 2016, available from

• Natural disasters’ costly economic impact on economies (in particular ICT infrastructures).



• Introduction of competition to the mobile phone sector, enhances access and affordability.

15

Competition and Mobile Broadband 114.2 112.8

50.0 48.2

18.9 10.0 9.6

0.3 6.1 0.0 0.0 0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Mob

ile b

road

band

sub.

per

100

inha

bita

nts

Full competition

Partial competition

Monopoly

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunica=ons/ICT Indicators Database (2016) and World Bank, LiWle Data Book on Informa=on Communica=on and Technology 2017 (2017).



• Good Governance matters.

16

Governance and Fixed Broadband Subscriptions

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunica=ons/ICT Indicators Database (2016) and World Governance Indicators (2016).



• Urbanization and broadband access are positively correlated

17

Impact of Urbanization on Broadband Access




• Economic development is correlated with higher mobile broadband access in PICs.

18

Economic Development and Mobile Broadband Access




19

Conclusion and Policy Implications • The following issues are important for growth of broadband

connectivity in the Pacific island countries: 1. Access to resilience and affordable energy (electricity); 2. Shift towards E-government services; 3. Formal education and capacity development; 4. Access to affordable ICT devices; 5. ICT infrastructure resilience to natural disasters; 6. Regulatory policies (competition etc); 7. Good Governance; 8. Urbanization; and 9. Standard of economic development.

broadband connectivity in the pacific - escap · 2018. 4. 6. · improving regional broadband...

Documents