The World Bank launched its Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact report in Colombo on Friday.
Improving broadband access, the report says, could revolutionise economic growth in developing countries such as Sri Lanka.
"For every ten percentage point increase in the penetration of broadband services, there is a 1.3 percentage point increase in economic growth," said Tenzin Dolma Norbhu, a World Bank ICT policy specialist.
The report estimates that fixed broadband subscribers made up 31.3 percent of total internet subscribers (in 2007), with international internet bandwidth at 118 bits/second/person.
Internet subscribers are estimated at 1 for every 100 people (in 2007), up from 0.2 in 2000.
Sri Lanka has begun an initiative to roll out a fibre optic backbone for broadband services, which will help improve access outside of Colombo and reduce costs significantly.
Rollout is expected to begin in the second quarter of next year and will take 9-12 months, said Reshan Devapura, chief operating officer of Sri Lanka’s ICT Agency.
A government policy for the broadband sector is also on the cards, Priyantha Kariyapperuma, director general of Sri Lanka’s Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRC) said, with a draft to be published before the end of the year for public comments.
High speed internet connections provide ready access to a wide range of services such as voice, video, music, films, radio, games, publishing etc. It also enhances the efficiency and reach of existing services.
Access to broadband also supports the growth of firms by lowering costs and raising productivity.
"Governments can play a key role in expanding broadband access by policies and incentives that encourage competition and private investment," says Katherine Sierra, World Bank's vice president for sustainable development.
In addition to faster, cheaper broadband, Sri Lanka also needs to scale up its pilot ICT projects such as its e-governance initiatives, the reports shows, and invest more in skills development.
Connecting South Asia
South Asia as a whole has shown significant progress on the ICT front in areas such as regulatory improvements, promotion of competition and private investment.
Regional improvements in ICT affordability have led to 500 million new subscribers accessing telephone services in South Asia and double digit growth in subscription to mobile telephones in each country in the region since 2004.
Regional countries have also become stronger global players; for example, the emergence of Sri Lanka and Pakistan as potential destinations for off-shore services.
However, more needs to be done. The report ranks all countries in the region at 3-4 on a scale of 1-10 in overall ICT performance.
This measures access, affordability and adoption of technologies.
The lower scores are because internet and other converged services are not yet widely available, high speed internet is still a privilege for people in cities and generally low income levels mean more needs to be done in the area of affordability.
The report encourages development of mobile platforms, which is becoming the single most powerful way to deliver public and private services to people in remote areas.
It also highlights untapped potential in the IT services industry, with less than 15 percent of a potential 500 billion dollar market worldwide, being exploited currently.
"Government’s should proactively encourage the development of local IT service industries through policies and incentives directed at entrepreneurs and the private sector and through investments in skills and infrastructure," the Bank said in a statement.
The World Bank manages a portfolio of ICT activities in South Asia of 3 billion dollars.
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Quelle/Source: Lanka Business Online, 05.12.2009
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