source: The U.S. Comes 7th for High Speed Internet Penetration | Statista
Showing posts with label Broadband. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadband. Show all posts
06 November 2015
10 August 2015
Ambassador Sepulveda Remarks at Conference on the Information Society
Remarks for the Fifth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean:
Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda
Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Mexico City, Mexico
August 5, 2015
Remarks As Prepared (emphasis added):
Thank you Coordinator Lagunes. The United States is honored to share this podium with you and our dear friends from ECLA, Brazil, ICANN, ISOC, and the EU. We appreciate the opportunity to hear your perspectives and share ours. As we collectively strive to seize the opportunities that the digital economy creates and address the challenges it poses, we believe that we must use a 21st century approach – collaborative, cooperative, and multistakeholder in its orientation.
Across the borderless Internet and the borders between our nations, we are all working to make the most of the digital revolution for our children and our people. We believe it is an enabler of progress and human development as well as the latest example of how human ingenuity, when left free to invent and explore, can change our world for the better, making all of us more productive, more informed, and more connected than ever before.
The Internet is a general purpose technology, like the combustion engine, railroads and electrical generation. That is, Internet-based technologies and services are not isolated ends in and of themselves. All sectors benefit and grow and are transformed by those technologies.
A recent McKinsey study addressed the question that Alicia (ECLAC Executive Secretary) posed -- who is capturing the value the Internet generates? Well, according to that study 21% of GDP growth in mature countries in the next five years came from connecting to and using internet digitalization not producing it. And 75% of the value from Internet digitalization actually went to traditional industries other than the four or five specific Internet companies some commentators choose to focus on.
So, net/net the Internet is making everyone who is connected to it better off, not just the platform developer using the platform.
Nonetheless, like every leap forward in technology, the information and communications technologies and networks that enable the global Internet have created a complex mixture of opportunities and challenges – from job creation to privacy concerns to the return to intellectual property creation, the apps economy, the Internet of Things, e-commerce, the sharing economy, and new technologies unforeseen and little understood are changing the relationship between people and their governments, employers and employees, and buyers and sellers of goods.
We must seize the opportunities that the digital economy creates and overcome new challenges together, through cooperation and collaboration, mutual respect and civil discourse.
The United States values the partnerships that we have all built together across the Americas and we strongly believe that this region can and should lead the world in promoting and protecting the free flow of commerce, speech, and association that the modern global communications system enables and facilitates.
At its core, this region is committed to democracy and freedom. And a healthy information society is the key to the preservation of those values and the promotion of shared prosperity.
As we discuss over the next few days the positive impact, challenges, and opportunities of the digital economy, as well as the future of the Information Society, let us remember how far we have come in a very short time.
Consider the facts:
We have work left to do. Too many people in the region are still on the wrong side of the digital divide and too many lack the skills and opportunity to make the most of the access available to them. We can do more and we can do better. And together we will.
But that does not diminish what we have achieved to date. We are committed to progress. We are committed to working together. And we recognize our responsibility to contribute to inclusive growth and development built on open networks, open societies, and an open, interconnected, global Internet.
The Americas have stepped up and become a leader in Internet issues. From NETMundial in Brazil and our work together in CITEL to prepare for the ITU Plenipotentiary in 2014, to the Internet Governance Forum in Brazil this year, the Freedom Online Coalition conference in Costa Rica next year, the OECD Ministerial and the IGF next year here in Mexico, we are together creating an open, collaborative, and inclusive space for problem solving and open dialogue.
In November, Brazil will host the annual Internet Governance Forum where a major theme will be “Policy Options for Connecting the Next Billion” and there we will continue to exercise and hone the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. This annual gathering, the IGF, has over the past few years grown in stature, in the diversity of participants, and in substance. And at the ten-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society this year, we must ensure that the mandate for the IGF is renewed, so the community can continue to invigorate it as the premier, global, multistakeholder forum for international dialogue on Internet issues for the decade to come.
More than any specific policy or the future of any specific firm or any special interest, we are advocates for the preservation of open, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder processes for examining and addressing questions and constructing policies for the digital economy. We live in an age where the key ingredients for innovation and growth are cooperation and collaboration, flexibility and ingenuity.
Governments that have not embraced multistakeholder processes for Internet governance and policymaking have invariably missed out on the creativity and dynamism that industry, civil society, and the technical community bring to bear.
Traditionally intergovernmental institutions that have incorporated stakeholders into their process and proceedings often note and emphasize the benefits that stakeholders bring to the conversation, reaping benefits and producing better outcomes. Institutions that exclude nongovernmental participants will remain subjected to rigid procedures, bureaucracy, captured by incumbents and political stalemate.
Governments and communities need the participation of the multistakeholder community because non-governmental stakeholders bear the largest share of the burden towards inventing and implementing solutions. It is this community that operates, interconnects, uses, and builds on the ICT platforms. They are the subject matter experts, and they are the ones driving the evolution and growth of the Information Society as providers, creators, and users.
Governments should take steps to empower their citizens to participate meaningfully in that evolution and growth, and the multistakeholder community should encourage those efforts. Policies should likewise respect human rights and social groups that are too often excluded from participating in the Information Society, including women, minorities, and rural and poor communities. But in meeting these challenges, we should always guard against unintended consequences or the concentration of power and authority in the hands of any one stakeholder group.
When the history is written about the 21st Century, it will tell a story of how collaborative, cooperative and multistakeholder approaches drove innovation that launched the digital economy. The Americas is leading that story.
Thank you and I look forward to working with you during the Ministerial.
Source: US Department of State
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
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Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda
Deputy Assistant Secretary and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Mexico City, Mexico
August 5, 2015
Remarks As Prepared (emphasis added):
Thank you Coordinator Lagunes. The United States is honored to share this podium with you and our dear friends from ECLA, Brazil, ICANN, ISOC, and the EU. We appreciate the opportunity to hear your perspectives and share ours. As we collectively strive to seize the opportunities that the digital economy creates and address the challenges it poses, we believe that we must use a 21st century approach – collaborative, cooperative, and multistakeholder in its orientation.
Across the borderless Internet and the borders between our nations, we are all working to make the most of the digital revolution for our children and our people. We believe it is an enabler of progress and human development as well as the latest example of how human ingenuity, when left free to invent and explore, can change our world for the better, making all of us more productive, more informed, and more connected than ever before.
The Internet is a general purpose technology, like the combustion engine, railroads and electrical generation. That is, Internet-based technologies and services are not isolated ends in and of themselves. All sectors benefit and grow and are transformed by those technologies.
A recent McKinsey study addressed the question that Alicia (ECLAC Executive Secretary) posed -- who is capturing the value the Internet generates? Well, according to that study 21% of GDP growth in mature countries in the next five years came from connecting to and using internet digitalization not producing it. And 75% of the value from Internet digitalization actually went to traditional industries other than the four or five specific Internet companies some commentators choose to focus on.
So, net/net the Internet is making everyone who is connected to it better off, not just the platform developer using the platform.
Nonetheless, like every leap forward in technology, the information and communications technologies and networks that enable the global Internet have created a complex mixture of opportunities and challenges – from job creation to privacy concerns to the return to intellectual property creation, the apps economy, the Internet of Things, e-commerce, the sharing economy, and new technologies unforeseen and little understood are changing the relationship between people and their governments, employers and employees, and buyers and sellers of goods.
We must seize the opportunities that the digital economy creates and overcome new challenges together, through cooperation and collaboration, mutual respect and civil discourse.
The United States values the partnerships that we have all built together across the Americas and we strongly believe that this region can and should lead the world in promoting and protecting the free flow of commerce, speech, and association that the modern global communications system enables and facilitates.
At its core, this region is committed to democracy and freedom. And a healthy information society is the key to the preservation of those values and the promotion of shared prosperity.
As we discuss over the next few days the positive impact, challenges, and opportunities of the digital economy, as well as the future of the Information Society, let us remember how far we have come in a very short time.
Consider the facts:
- There were 309.5 million Internet users in Latin America in 2014, amounting to 51% penetration. That’s an 8.5% growth rate from 2013 to 2014.
- The number of people in the region who regularly went online via a mobile phone increased 25% from 2013 to 2014. And,
- By 2018, there will be 378.3 million Internet users in the region bringing Internet penetration to 60%.
We have work left to do. Too many people in the region are still on the wrong side of the digital divide and too many lack the skills and opportunity to make the most of the access available to them. We can do more and we can do better. And together we will.
But that does not diminish what we have achieved to date. We are committed to progress. We are committed to working together. And we recognize our responsibility to contribute to inclusive growth and development built on open networks, open societies, and an open, interconnected, global Internet.
The Americas have stepped up and become a leader in Internet issues. From NETMundial in Brazil and our work together in CITEL to prepare for the ITU Plenipotentiary in 2014, to the Internet Governance Forum in Brazil this year, the Freedom Online Coalition conference in Costa Rica next year, the OECD Ministerial and the IGF next year here in Mexico, we are together creating an open, collaborative, and inclusive space for problem solving and open dialogue.
In November, Brazil will host the annual Internet Governance Forum where a major theme will be “Policy Options for Connecting the Next Billion” and there we will continue to exercise and hone the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. This annual gathering, the IGF, has over the past few years grown in stature, in the diversity of participants, and in substance. And at the ten-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society this year, we must ensure that the mandate for the IGF is renewed, so the community can continue to invigorate it as the premier, global, multistakeholder forum for international dialogue on Internet issues for the decade to come.
More than any specific policy or the future of any specific firm or any special interest, we are advocates for the preservation of open, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder processes for examining and addressing questions and constructing policies for the digital economy. We live in an age where the key ingredients for innovation and growth are cooperation and collaboration, flexibility and ingenuity.
Governments that have not embraced multistakeholder processes for Internet governance and policymaking have invariably missed out on the creativity and dynamism that industry, civil society, and the technical community bring to bear.
Traditionally intergovernmental institutions that have incorporated stakeholders into their process and proceedings often note and emphasize the benefits that stakeholders bring to the conversation, reaping benefits and producing better outcomes. Institutions that exclude nongovernmental participants will remain subjected to rigid procedures, bureaucracy, captured by incumbents and political stalemate.
Governments and communities need the participation of the multistakeholder community because non-governmental stakeholders bear the largest share of the burden towards inventing and implementing solutions. It is this community that operates, interconnects, uses, and builds on the ICT platforms. They are the subject matter experts, and they are the ones driving the evolution and growth of the Information Society as providers, creators, and users.
Governments should take steps to empower their citizens to participate meaningfully in that evolution and growth, and the multistakeholder community should encourage those efforts. Policies should likewise respect human rights and social groups that are too often excluded from participating in the Information Society, including women, minorities, and rural and poor communities. But in meeting these challenges, we should always guard against unintended consequences or the concentration of power and authority in the hands of any one stakeholder group.
When the history is written about the 21st Century, it will tell a story of how collaborative, cooperative and multistakeholder approaches drove innovation that launched the digital economy. The Americas is leading that story.
Thank you and I look forward to working with you during the Ministerial.
Source: US Department of State
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
Follow @expvccom
20 July 2015
Connecting the Next Billion, Goals for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
Connecting the Next Billion: Remarks by Catherine A. Novelli, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, US Department of State - July 16, 2015 - to the IGF-USA Steering Group, Washington, DC:
I. Introduction
Good afternoon. I want to thank the IGF-USA Steering Group for planning this event and George Washington University for hosting. I also want to thank the multi-stakeholder community that’s present today, whose energy, dedication, and vigilance is critical to ensuring the Internet’s vitality.
II. Goals for the IGF [Internet Governance Forum]
It is with high expectations that we prepare ourselves for this year’s global IGF in Brazil. Over the past few years, we have seen the IGF grow in stature, in participants, in diversity, and in substance. This is a very positive development. The IGF has demonstrated that it is a preeminent venue for the multi-stakeholder community to share opinions, ideas, and solutions to problems regarding a range of Internet governance and policy issues. Its continued growth and long-term stability is absolutely essential to the future of the Internet.
The Internet and technology are strengthening the lives of people everywhere, particularly in the developing world. For example:
At the next IGF in Brazil, we should continue to find ways to further encourage and enhance global participation in multi-stakeholder bodies, like the IGF, ICANN or the Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF]. As I travel the world and speak with entrepreneurs, technologists, and Internet users, I hear their interest in shaping and preserving the Internet’s future. A key challenge is how to make the ability to contribute ideas and solutions available to a broader spectrum of people.
Over these next few months, I encourage everyone to work together to further strengthen the IGF. We can promote stronger regional IGF discussions between annual global meetings. Most importantly, we must all ensure that the IGF continues and remains an inclusive, respected, and neutral convener of the international multistakeholder community. It is vital, however, that the IGF do more than just convene. The IGF should also be a forum where solutions to the thorny issues that surround the Internet, such as identify theft, preserving privacy and security of networks are put forward. The U.S. Government will continue to fully support the continuation of those efforts.
Development as a Priority
I want to commend the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group for selecting the theme “Policy Options for Connecting the Next Billion” for its intercessional work at the global IGF in Brazil. I am also gratified that the IGF-USA selected this same theme for our plenary session this afternoon.
To fulfill the Internet’s promise, all stakeholders must redouble development efforts to extend Internet access to everyone. Unfortunately, the benefits of economic development – access to education, medicine, information and global markets that are fostered by the Internet are not yet shared by all. Today, roughly three out of every five people in the world remain without Internet access – and in the poorest countries that figure can top 95%.
There’s a reason why access is relatively high in Colombia but low in Venezuela; high in Malaysia but low in North Korea; high in Kenya but low in Ethiopia. Some governments do much more than others to make access possible. Countries everywhere – including the United States – need clear and comprehensive national broadband plans that allow for private investment, encourage competition, remove bureaucratic obstacles and take full advantage of shared Internet services at schools, libraries, community centers and cafes.
With that goal in mind, the U.S. Department of State is looking for ways to partner with countries, regional development banks, network engineers, and industry leaders to substantially increase broadband access in the developing world and foster a sound policy environment to ensure a healthy Internet.
A recent report of the Alliance for an Affordable Internet (A4AI) provides at least four critical success factors for any government that wants to better extend Internet connectivity to its citizens.
III. Closing
The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities for economic growth in developing countries. Of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people, 70 percent live in rural areas. Their lives can be transformed by connecting village schools to the web, bringing telemedicine to far-flung rural health centers, providing accurate weather information to farmers and fisherman, and supplying up-to-date market information to producers. For every ten percent increase in a country’s Internet penetration, its total economic growth expands by one to two percent. Thus, the Internet is a foundational tool for creating shared prosperity. It is as fundamental for economic growth as highways, power grids, and ports.
However, the Internet can only be an engine for inclusive growth if it is available, accessible, and affordable for everyone. To successfully connect the rest of the world, we will need multi-stakeholder engagement and cooperation. Over these next few months, I look forward to working together with you towards our shared goal.
source: US Department of State (emphasis added)
See also: Domain Mondo: Internet Broadband Affordability Map, A Global Digital Divide
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
Follow @expvccom
I. Introduction
Good afternoon. I want to thank the IGF-USA Steering Group for planning this event and George Washington University for hosting. I also want to thank the multi-stakeholder community that’s present today, whose energy, dedication, and vigilance is critical to ensuring the Internet’s vitality.
II. Goals for the IGF [Internet Governance Forum]
It is with high expectations that we prepare ourselves for this year’s global IGF in Brazil. Over the past few years, we have seen the IGF grow in stature, in participants, in diversity, and in substance. This is a very positive development. The IGF has demonstrated that it is a preeminent venue for the multi-stakeholder community to share opinions, ideas, and solutions to problems regarding a range of Internet governance and policy issues. Its continued growth and long-term stability is absolutely essential to the future of the Internet.
The Internet and technology are strengthening the lives of people everywhere, particularly in the developing world. For example:
- Since the first IGF ten years ago, the number of Internet users has increased from 1 billion to 3 billion people.
- Mobile phone subscriptions have increased from 40% of the world’s population in 2005 to over 90% today. That includes over four billion subscriptions in developing countries.
- And today, the Internet’s economic benefits are increasingly being felt in the developing world. Overall, the Internet economy contributes 5 to 9 percent to total economic growth in developed markets; and, in developing markets, the Internet economy is growing at 15 to 25 percent per year.
At the next IGF in Brazil, we should continue to find ways to further encourage and enhance global participation in multi-stakeholder bodies, like the IGF, ICANN or the Internet Engineering Task Force [IETF]. As I travel the world and speak with entrepreneurs, technologists, and Internet users, I hear their interest in shaping and preserving the Internet’s future. A key challenge is how to make the ability to contribute ideas and solutions available to a broader spectrum of people.
Over these next few months, I encourage everyone to work together to further strengthen the IGF. We can promote stronger regional IGF discussions between annual global meetings. Most importantly, we must all ensure that the IGF continues and remains an inclusive, respected, and neutral convener of the international multistakeholder community. It is vital, however, that the IGF do more than just convene. The IGF should also be a forum where solutions to the thorny issues that surround the Internet, such as identify theft, preserving privacy and security of networks are put forward. The U.S. Government will continue to fully support the continuation of those efforts.
Development as a Priority
I want to commend the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group for selecting the theme “Policy Options for Connecting the Next Billion” for its intercessional work at the global IGF in Brazil. I am also gratified that the IGF-USA selected this same theme for our plenary session this afternoon.
To fulfill the Internet’s promise, all stakeholders must redouble development efforts to extend Internet access to everyone. Unfortunately, the benefits of economic development – access to education, medicine, information and global markets that are fostered by the Internet are not yet shared by all. Today, roughly three out of every five people in the world remain without Internet access – and in the poorest countries that figure can top 95%.
There’s a reason why access is relatively high in Colombia but low in Venezuela; high in Malaysia but low in North Korea; high in Kenya but low in Ethiopia. Some governments do much more than others to make access possible. Countries everywhere – including the United States – need clear and comprehensive national broadband plans that allow for private investment, encourage competition, remove bureaucratic obstacles and take full advantage of shared Internet services at schools, libraries, community centers and cafes.
With that goal in mind, the U.S. Department of State is looking for ways to partner with countries, regional development banks, network engineers, and industry leaders to substantially increase broadband access in the developing world and foster a sound policy environment to ensure a healthy Internet.
A recent report of the Alliance for an Affordable Internet (A4AI) provides at least four critical success factors for any government that wants to better extend Internet connectivity to its citizens.
- First, drive broadband infrastructure expansion through increased private investment and removal of barriers;
- Second, intensify competition and level the playing field to increase access, reduce cost and stimulate demand;
- Third, open access and infrastructure sharing; and
- Fourth, enable access to spectrum.
III. Closing
The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities for economic growth in developing countries. Of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people, 70 percent live in rural areas. Their lives can be transformed by connecting village schools to the web, bringing telemedicine to far-flung rural health centers, providing accurate weather information to farmers and fisherman, and supplying up-to-date market information to producers. For every ten percent increase in a country’s Internet penetration, its total economic growth expands by one to two percent. Thus, the Internet is a foundational tool for creating shared prosperity. It is as fundamental for economic growth as highways, power grids, and ports.
However, the Internet can only be an engine for inclusive growth if it is available, accessible, and affordable for everyone. To successfully connect the rest of the world, we will need multi-stakeholder engagement and cooperation. Over these next few months, I look forward to working together with you towards our shared goal.
source: US Department of State (emphasis added)
See also: Domain Mondo: Internet Broadband Affordability Map, A Global Digital Divide
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
Follow @expvccom
15 April 2015
FCC Broadband Consumer Privacy Workshop, April 28
FCC Announces Broadband Consumer Privacy Workshop – April 28 | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP - JDSupra:
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
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more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
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22 March 2015
FCC, Net Neutrality Rules, Broadband Access under Title II
FCC Adopts Net Neutrality Rules, Reclassifies Broadband Access under Title II | Proskauer - New Media & Technology - JDSupra:
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
Follow @expvccom
more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)
Follow @expvccom
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