The race to provide broadband

Broadband Society is progressing in the world. In the Spanish case, the evolution is right, frequently over other countries in its natural framework. The amount of fiber optics connections and the evolution in the kind of use are allowing an added value to this sector. In collaboration with Angela Nicolotti, we analyze it.

The worldwide broadband penetration between 2000 and 2017 has increased sevenfold, rising from 6% to 43% of the population. This figure means that 3,100 million people can access the Internet, out of a total of 7,400 million. 

Despite this unprecedented growth of Internet in the recent years, the digital gap between regions and countries continues existing, especially when we talk about Internet access. Almost 59% of the population, about 4 million people, has no access to the network. Only the 16% of the world population can afford access to broadband Internet, according to the study of the platform Mobile World Capital Barcelona. 

If we take a look at the Spanish case, we see that 65% of households have access to high speed broadband, although there are significant differences between regions. One of the most outstanding studies to know deeply the situation in Spain is the report that is produced annually by SETSI (Secretary of State for Telecommunications and for the Information Society) and where is collected the situation of broadband coverage in the country. The factors that are taken into account in this study are speed and technology, among others.

In this study we can see how the technological platform with greater coverage remains the broadband of mobile access 3.5G, that reaches almost all Spanish households, with speeds of up to 21 Mbps. This technological platform is being increased with the progressive introduction of the following generation (called 4G), whose coverage grows fast thanks to the reuse of existing infrastructures. So it refers to the fixed access networks, the technological platform with the greater growth is the optical fiber to home, capable of offering services of more than 100Mbps and by the massive deployment that most fixed network operators have opted for.

Following this line, at the meeting of the Council of Ministers held in February 2013, the Government approved the Digital Agenda for Spain, which includes the deployment of bandwidth access infrastructures Broadband as one of the main political and strategic objectives of the present decade, in line with what has been done by both the European Union and most of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

This Digital Agenda includes measures to remove barriers to deployments, boost the deployment of ultra-fast broadband networks, optimize the use of the radio spectrum and improve the experience of broadband users. In its development the Telecommunication Plan was approved and on demand side actions aimed at reducing deployment costs and promoting competition, supplemented by promotion measures to boost the expansion of ultra-fast broadband networks and, on the other hand, in actions to promote demand, along with monitoring and monitoring thereof.

To date, these are the measures included in the agenda that have been achieved: first of all, encouraging the deployment of networks and services to ensure digital connectivity. Coverage 100Mbps early 2015 stood at 60% of the population, surpassing the target of 50% by the end of the year. It also exceeded the EU target of achieving 7% of homes connected over 100Mbps and 13% of households with more than 30Mbps. 

Secondly, developing the digital economy for growth, competitiveness and internationalization of the Spanish enterprises and also to improve eGovernment digital solutions and take a efficient delivery of public services. In the first case, the activity of buying and selling online by the PIMES increased in 2015 to 26% and 15% respectively, when the goal was 35% at the end of the year. In regard to the e-government digital solutions, they exceeded the goal of 26% of people who submit forms filled through eGovernment services. 

Finally, the last measure was to beef up the confidence in the digital environment and to promote inclusion, digital literacy and training new professionals in the Information and communication technologies. In this case there is still much to do, cause at the beginning of 2015 there was a 62% of the Spanish population the used a security measure, this was eight points below the 2015 target of the European Union, and was also still far from the objective of achieving 15% of the population that have never accessed Internet, showing a record of 21% in 2015. 

As we have seen, Spain is following the straight for the development of broadband for all citizens, although much remains to be done. We will remain attentive. The question is to accomplish and to avoid possible corruptions in the implementation of this plannings. A friend explained an example of corruption: imagine a company that steals a worker, recognizes the theft, tries not to pay and buys a judge who charges from that company to invent a formal issue despite acknowledging that the worker is right. The company and the judge will go to hell, and the worker is the winner before God and before the court of Academic Scientific Justice.

We analyze international broadband evolution in this blog, in Research Group about Digital Journalism and Marketing and Broadband and in Research Group on Innovative Monetization Systems of Digital Journalism, Marketing and Tourism (SIMPED), from CECABLE,  Escola Universitària Mediterrani of UdG, UPF and Blanquerna-URL, in Twitter (@CECABLEresearch), Google+, in the group of LinkedIn, in the page of LinkedIn, in the group of Facebook, in Instagram (CECABLE), in Pinterest and in this blog. We will go in deep in the XXIII Cable and Broadband Catalonia Congress (10-11 April). Go ahead! 

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