ITU urges governments to aid broadband development

Hamadoun Touré: "broadband technology will dominate this decade"

Governments must provide a clear and stable regulatory framework to encourage the development of broadband networks around the world, according to the secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Speaking today in London, Hamadoun Touré gave a rallying call to heads of states around the world to encourage investment in broadband as part of a renewed drive from the UN to encourage nations to meet its Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Touré will present a report on the broadband market from the Broadband Commission for Digital Development to the UN on 19 September.

"ICT and broadband are the decisive factors for the development of all industries, and encouraging private companies to develop infrastructure helps create profits and jobs, which will help nations around the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals," he said.

"Just as mobile technology dominated the last decade, so broadband technology, particularly mobile broadband, will dominate this decade. But the growth in mobile networks would never have happened without investment from enterprises."

Touré noted that nations are beginning to understand the benefits of broadband, and that, during his time with the ITU, he had seen the number of countries with clear frameworks rise from 25 in 1999 to over 160 today.

Turning to the issue of cyber security, Touré is hoping to develop a common international framework within the ITU, but warned that several obstacles need to be overcome.

"We want to set up a cyber peace treaty to stop nations using cyber attacks against one another, and call on them not to harbour cyber criminals in their borders. Some countries are reluctant to join, though, thinking they are above such risks," he said.

"However, criminals can be anywhere and viruses can infect even high-level firms, as we saw in the Google and China incident. Security is very fragile at the moment, and it is vital we tackle it to protect consumers, businesses and governments."

Research by the ITU suggests that prices and access to broadband fluctuates widely across the globe. Average UK broadband connections cost just 0.63 per cent of the average income, compared with up to 7.19 per cent in China, while only 0.7 per cent of the population in India has a broadband subscription.