The belief is that such investment will lead to greater economic wealth and social fulfilment for that particular country – and if not acted upon soon, some of the opportunities, especially around industry competitiveness, will be lost as other countries will have already seized the advantage. However, high-speed broadband investment (deploying fibre in the access network) can run into billions of dollars and the real benefits are hard to quantify and prove.
There is no doubt that broadband access brings significant socio-economic benefits. In today's world, ICT is normally a large driver of economic growth, and telecommunications is usually one of the largest of the ICT sectors.
However, in mature countries, the direct revenue benefits of broadband are often blurred due to the decline in revenue from fixed voice services, largely due to fixed-to-mobile substitution. Splitting telecommunication revenues into fixed and mobile, it is often perceived that the real growth has come from mobile services, with fixed remaining flat at best.
However, in truth it is the combination of broadband and mobile services that has driven telecommunication services and had a direct impact on a country's GDP.
It is the indirect benefits of broadband access that are more significant. Increased competitiveness, greater attractiveness to foreign investment, greater use of e-services such as e-government, e-health, e-education and teleworking all bring economic and/or social benefits to a country.
Such benefits can often only be maximised though through extensive broadband coverage and availability. However, there are still large sections of any country that cannot get or believe they do not want/need broadband access. Resolving this should be any government's prime objective.
Direct benefits of high-speed broadband are harder to prove as, at least today, there is little additional revenue being driven from fibre customers. In certain countries, such as Korea, dependence on ICT is so strong for future economic growth that the picture is a little clearer. However, in most countries the real benefits to high-speed broadband will be indirect, and therefore more speculative.
Many will claim that high-speed broadband will bring numerous benefits; it is just that we don't fully know what those benefits are as yet.
Private industry is likely to invest in new high-speed infrastructure as part of the industry's natural development, but it currently faces the same uncertainties around what the real opportunities are, how big they will be and how fast they will appear.
The big questions are therefore when such investment will take place and how extensive it will be. Without government backing, few private firms will have the money, or business incentive, to invest in a complete access network replacement, so in many countries a new 'digital divide' is likely.
There are indirect socio-economic benefits to high-speed broadband that would suggest it is in a government's interest to remove such a divide. However, this idea should be treated with caution – any such initiative should only be done as part of a wider strategy.
High-speed broadband alone will not automatically increase activities such as home-working. Each country must look at what it wants to achieve at a higher level, and then look at what role high-speed broadband has within that. A 'build it and they will come' approach would be less effective and is unlikely to be cost effective.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Michael Philpott
Quelle/Source: Business Spectator, 30.11.2007
