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Among the economies for which data are available for both 2020 and 2021, fewer met the 2% affordability target in 2021 than in 2020, across the different types of service. Thus, only 96 economies met the target with regard to the data-only mobile broadband basket in 2021 (7 less than the previous year), and only 64 economies met the target with respect to the fixed broadband basket (down by 2 from the previous year). This reverses the trend of declining prices for the data-only mobile broadband basket observed in previous years. More work is needed to reach this target by 2025.
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Welcoming New Commissioners
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H.E. Ms. Khumbudzo Phophi Silence Ntshavheni
We are honored to welcome Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, H.E. Ms. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni of South Africa to the Commission.
Check out her bio on our website.
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Global Connectivity Initatives
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Broadband News & Commission Outputs
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As of May 2022, The Smart Africa Alliance, led by Broadband Commissioner and Smart Africa Director General Mr. Lacina Koné, includes 32 Member States, international partner organizations including the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) among others, as well as International Private Sector Members. The Smart Africa Secretariat (SAS) is based in Kigali, Rwanda.
Smart Africa has outlined five initiatives it has spearheaded to improve broadband affordability in Africa. |
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Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar announced that there would be no shortage in the supply of bandwidth in Bangladesh, even though the country’s usage of bandwidth increased drastically after the Covid outbreak.
The telecom Minister came up with the assurance at a press briefing held at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission office in Dhaka on the day.
The press conference was organized to brief on Bangladesh’s fulfillment of a target fixed by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. |
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Sustainability is a key component of Nokia's strategy and purpose. Broadband Commissioner and Nokia President & CEO, Mr. Pekka Lundmark, believes that digitalization and connectivity solutions are critical to resolving many of the global problems facing society today – environmental, social and economic.
The solutions provided in Nokia's People and Planet Report can help the world decarbonize and dematerialize, reducing waste, limiting the use of natural resources and driving the reuse of materials to combat climate change; can help restore failing productivity through the digitalization of industries and society, and can bring more inclusive access to opportunity and basic social services.
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Among other stakeholders, the Broadband Commission was invited to provide substantive inputs to the thematic review for HLPF 2022, the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
The Commission collaborated on a submission to showcase the views, findings, research, data and policy recs our connectivity-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the SDGs under review. Many of these findings are drawn from the Commission’s Agenda for Action & the 2021 State of Broadband Report.
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Amidst the growing number of development crises facing the world, today United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada as new Co-Chairs of the SDGs Advocates group.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are the world’s blueprint to build a healthier, greener and sustainable future by 2030. With the clock ticking and multiple crises driving us further off track, we must do everything in our power to deliver the SDGs,” said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. “I’m pleased that Prime Minister Mottley and Prime Minister Trudeau will help lead advocacy to do just that.”...
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The Office of the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have announced a new set of UN targets for universal and meaningful digital connectivity to be achieved by 2030.
“Universal connectivity alone is not enough to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that every person has safe and affordable access to the Internet by 2030," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “These targets will help countries guide their efforts towards effectively ensuring we meet our goal of universal and meaningful connectivity by the end of the decade."
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The Policy brief - The affordability of ICT services 2021, jointly launched by ITU and A4AI, finds that prices for fixed and mobile broadband have risen globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is stalling progress on countries' progress toward achieving the Broadband Commission's Affordability Target for 2025.
The policy brief analysis the prices of five baskets, namely mobile broadband, fixed broadband, mobile data and voice low-usage, mobile data and voice high-usage and mobile cellular low usage.
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The Commission released an Open Statement calling upon “govt's, the private sector, NGOs and civil society to join forces for the LDC5 Conference in making concrete pledges and putting forward initiatives towards connectivity through existing platforms, including the ITU Partner2Connect Digital Coalition and the D4D Hub.”
This statement presents a number of Policy Recommendations for the Decade of Action, developed by Commissioners, for addressing key barriers to achieving universal connectivity and supporting LDCs in their digital transformation process for sustainable social and economic development.
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