The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has said the world will need to invest a whopping $428 billion to connect the remaining three billion people in the world who are yet to be connected to the Internet.
ITU stated this in its new comprehensive study titled ‘Connecting Humanity – Assessing investment needs of connecting humanity to the Internet by 2030’, explaining that the estimated investment is needed to achieve universal, affordable broadband connectivity for all humanity by the end of this decade.
Connecting Humanity posits that nearly US$ 428 billion is required to connect the remaining 3 billion people aged ten years and above to broadband Internet by 2030. It is an ambitious goal and a major infrastructure investment challenge. So meeting this investment to bring every person online by the end of this decade will require an unprecedented and concerted effort from the public and private sectors,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
He noted that the new Connecting Humanity study led by ITU is the much-needed roadmap that will guide decision-makers on the journey towards accessible, affordable, reliable, and safe digital technologies and services for all.
According to ITU, the study examines costs associated with infrastructure needs, enabling policy and regulatory frameworks, and basic digital skills and local content at both the global and regional levels, as well as how to mobilize the unprecedented levels of financing needed to extend networks to unserved communities.
For the international body, responsible for telecommunication regulations, there is a real and present danger that those without broadband Internet access could be left ever further behind with so many essential services being pushed online
Hence assessing investment requirements to reach affordable universal connectivity is important to any country concerned with their ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to ITU, over 12% of the global unconnected population live in remote, rural locations where traditional networks are not easily accessible, most of them in Africa and South Asia. This connectivity gap is exacerbated by the gender digital divide. Across the globe, more men than women use the Internet: only 48% of women as opposed to 58% of men.