Government initiatives to enhance service penetration-
Over the years, countries across the globe have realised that the role played by broadband services in a nation’s growth is much larger than that of being a mere tool of connectivity. According to various industry estimates, every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration increases the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country by 1 per cent. Broadband services serve as an enabling information and communication technology (ICT) platform, which enhances the socio-economic standard of a country directly and indirectly. Consequently, enhancing a nation’s broadband penetration has become an important focus area for policymakers who have carved out dedicated policy frameworks to ensure that broadband connectivity reaches one and all. By the beginning of 2014, around 140 countries had either a national policy or a concrete strategic road map in place to promote broadband penetration.
Traditionally, private sector participation in rolling out the massive infrastructure required for broadband connectivity, particularly on the fixed platform, has been limited. Establishment of high speed broadband gateways is cumbersome as well as highly capital intensive and, thus, an all-pervasive infrastructure roll-out is often considered to be beyond a private operator’s capability and capacity.
In recent times, though, the private sector has shown renewed interest in rolling out broadband infrastructure. This trend can be attributed to the introduction of 3G/4G services, which has resulted in mobile broadband contributing significantly to operator revenues. However, the scope of such roll-outs is limited to urban centres, leaving out a large chunk of populations residing in rural areas or in economically less-advanced centres. Further, the content and applications offered through the broadband platform are more suited to the requirements of high-paying consumers rather than low-income ones.
This scenario reiterates the government’s role in filling this gap and ensuring that broadband connectivity reaches every nook and corner of the country. In several countries, governments and private operators have come together to formulate a profitable business case out of establishing broadband infrastructure, where the basic network is laid by the government and made available on a non-discriminatory basis to the private sector. In other cases, governments have announced broadband targets as policy mandates to be achieved by the telecom industry within a stipulated period.
The scenario is no different in Southeast Asian (SEA) nations, which have seen limited broadband uptake so far. The access to broadband plans is skewed in the region with mature broadband markets like Singapore and Malaysia characterised by competing high speed mobile and fixed broadband networks on one end and the less developed ICT markets such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar that have fixed broadband penetration levels as low as 0.13 per cent on the other. It is crucial that policymakers step in to drive broadband adoption in these countries. In order to meet the increasing demand for connectivity in the region, telecom regulators and governments are developing new policies to seize the potential opportunity in the broadband space.
Government initiatives and plans to enhance broadband penetration in the SEA region
Singapore: The Singapore government provided direct subsidy to private players who invested in the construction of the national fibre network, the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network. Under the project, Singapore now has more than 95 per cent of its population under fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage, with speed starting from 100 Mbps. Subsequently, many telecom operators like SingTel, StarHub and M1 have offered a broad range of home and business broadband plans on the NGNBN infrastructure. In October 2014, the Singapore government released its 10-year Smart Nation 2025 plan. Another broadband initiative in Singapore has been the Wireless@SG by the Infocomm Development Authority that aims to provide free and seamless wireless broadband access in public places with speeds up to 2 Mbps.
Malaysia: The Malaysian government exemplified an operator-dominated model and co-invested with Telekom Malaysia for the national broadband network project. Under the High Speed Broadband initiative in 2008, the government invested around RM 2.4 billion of the total of RM 11.3 billion for 10 years while the rest was invested by the partner operator. During Phase I of the project, 1.3 million premises were passed by FTTH while residential buildings in the industrial areas around Kuala Lumpur were connected with VDSL2. Recently, the government allocated around RM 2.7 billion more to further expand the HSBB network in the country. Despite this, the broadband speed in the country is amongst the lowest in Southeast Asia due to the domination of Telekom Malaysia, which owns 90 per cent of the telephone lines and fibre infrastructure in the country.
Thailand: To increase the country’s competitiveness in the global market, the Thailand government launched the National Broadband Plan (NBP) in 2010. Under the plan, the government aimed to develop a broadband network to provide access to at least 80 per cent of the population by 2015 and at least 95 per cent by 2020. In March 2014, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology launched the Smart Thailand 2020 policy and aligned it with the NBP, 2010 to increase broadband penetration utilising ICT in all aspects of development.
Indonesia: Moving on the same front, Indonesia’s government has set a target to provide broadband access to 70 per cent of urban households and 100 per cent of urban office buildings by 2019. To do so, the government launched the Indonesia Broadband Plan in October 2014, which prioritises e-governance, e-education, e-health, e-logistics and e-procurement initiatives. The plan aims to deploy broadband with a minimum speed of 2 Mbps for fixed broadband and 1 Mbps for mobile broadband.
Philippines: The Commission on Information and Communication technology in the Philippines launched the Philippine Digital Strategy (PDS) in line with the ASEAN Information and Communications Technology Master Plan 2015 in June 2011. The national policy acts as a guide to recognise the role of ICT in areas such as government and governance, education, economy, employment and industries. The PDS 2011–2016 sets out targets for the provision of basic broadband access and internet opportunities for all by 2016 in the Philippines.
Vietnam: Under the Prime Minister’s Decree 1755, the government plans to increase the coverage of mobile broadband to up to 90 per cent of the population and extend the broadband network to most of the villages in the country.
However, the least developed countries of Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have a long road to travel before they will be in a position to provide such services to their citizens at affordable costs. Cambodia has already begun its journey with the Cambodia ICT Development Strategy for 2011–15; the other two countries are yet to strategise their efforts in this regard.
Conclusion
Effective ground implementation along with prioritisation of broadband projects will help Southeast Asia to develop an extensive range of broadband infrastructure and services. In order to propagate its broadband plans well, the governments must work with telecom regulators and the industry to make available the spectrum required by incumbent operators and new entrants in the sector. Further, broadband plans must complement existing telecom industry and other policies regarding foreign capital flows, mergers and acquisitions, security of information, etc. Although, most SEA countries have formulated policies and strategies to improve broadband connectivity, a clearer road map needs to be articulated involving the programmes, policies and initiatives of governments to cater to the gigantic demand for internet and broadband services in the region. The governments in the region, therefore, have initiated and prioritised various ICT plans to cope with the in-creasing demand for such services by users both within their geographies and outside. However, to support such broadband policies, they must now work on alternatives with the private sector along with a supportive regulatory framework to achieve their broadband targets.
