The New Civil Right

Finland recently announced that broadband connectivity is a legal right of every citizen. Sweden just announced the goal of 100 mb connectivity for everyone by 2020. Other countries are making similar noises, and rightly so.

The World Bank Group recently issued their Information and Communication for Development 2009 report that highlights the need to provide universal access to affordable broadband connectivity.

One paper cites the World Bank report as stating that "for every 10 percentage points increase in high-speed Internet connection there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points."

This report goes on to say that the World Bank found that "broadband provides the basis for local information technology (IT) services which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion," and that "access to broadband completes the information foundation for a modern economy and should be a priority in national development plans."

The Report

The report itself, which weighs in at a daunting 340 pages, does make illuminating reading, beginning with the Foreword's opening statement:

Information and communication technology (ICT) is transforming interactions between people, governments, and firms worldwide. In developing countries, farmers receive updated crop prices and public health officials monitor medical inventories by text messages. Women are empowered to make decisions and access new opportunities through online information. Entrepreneurs obtain business licenses in a fraction of the standard time by applying for them through municipal government Web sites. And in an increasingly integrated global economy, ICT enables people to access and share knowledge and services around the world.

The report goes on to cover all aspects of ICT in both developing and developed economies and makes the case (without actually saying so) that broadband access is no longer just a "nice to have" by in many aspects nothing short of a necessary civil right.

ICT Overview

The largest section of this report provides an at-a-glance overview of the state of ICT in each of 150 counties worldwide.

As the introduction states:

"The World Bank ICT at-a-glance country tables present the most recent country-specific ICT data from many sources available in one place. They offer a snapshot of the economic and social context and the structure and performance of the ICT sector in each of the 150 countries covered in the report.

"Data are shown for 150 economies with populations of more than 1 million for which timely and reliable information exists. The table of Key ICT Indicators for Other Economies presents 59 additional economies--those with sparse data, smaller economies with populations of between 30,000 and 1 million, and others that are members of the World Bank Group."

"The data in the tables are categorized into four sections:

• Economic and social context, which provides a snapshot of the country's macroeconomic and social environment
• Sector structure, which provides an overview of regulatory and policy status in the telecommunications sector
• Sector efficiency and capacity, which includes information on investment and revenue and employees per subscriber in the telecommunications sector
• Sector performance, which provides statistical data on the ICT sector with indicators for access, usage, quality, affordability, trade, and ICT applications.

It is the most comprehensive overview of the state of broadband today, and well worth perusing.

It's unstated conclusion--and that does not take much reading between lines--is that broadband access will soon become a financial, if not social, necessity, and may indeed soon become the new Civil Right.