Broadband for Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Georgia

1. Broadband for Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Georgia Siddhartha Raja ICT Policy Specialist The World Bank sraja2@worldbank.org

2. Overview • Global trends and opportunities • (Re)thinking broadband • Last miles… the unfinished broadband access agenda • And first steps… broadband to support and enable innovation, jobs, trade • Some ideas

3. Global trends and opportunities

4. Social media and networks are growing Facebook: 250 billion photos, 1.47 million books shared YouTube: 6 billion hours of video watched per month, 100 hours of video uploaded per minute

5. Cloud computing is becoming a global phenomenon Maturity in <5 years; market of >$130B in 2014 Source: Gartner Consulting, 2013

6. ICT-enabled innovations will have huge impact A snapshot of recent research by the McKinsey Global Institute ICT & ICT-enabled innovations will contribute >$17T annually in 2025 Big data will enable innovation in social and economic activities ICT-enabled innovations will create value in manufacturing

7. ICT-enabled employment creates new opportunities • ICTs allows people to find and do work online. • This is for ICT and non-ICT work, and low and high skill levels. • It can be for Internet or mobile users. • Globally over 12 million people are working online, many more are finding (formal and non-formal) work online Online work platform oDesk has a range of work opportunities for anyone online and with a relevant skill Working online is an opportunity for millions of people around the world Elance.com Size of the bubble indicates number of job opportunities online on oDesk Comparing hourly wages: Online (on Elance) versus national averages World Bank analysis Online work can connect people to relatively higher income earning opportunities

8. Clustering in access by geography Fixed broadband Internet (% pop) Mobile broadband Internet (% pop) Source: World Bank data, 2012 and GSMA Wireless Intelligence, 2013

9. Clustering in access by income levels Internet use by country income group Mobile generations and income levels (%pop) Source: World Bank data, 2012 and GSMA Wireless Intelligence, 2013

10. Stakeholders are facing change and uncertainty

11. Georgia will need to position itself for the future Fixed and mobile broadband penetration (% population, 2013) Increases will drive economic growth: +10% BB = +1.3% GDP growth TeleGeography, 2013 International connectivity (bps per capita, 2012) Improvements are needed to support increased data usage, trade in services, or even regional integration TeleGeography, 2013

12. (Re)thinking broadband:Last miles… First steps

13. Broadband is an ecosystem • An ecosystem and a virtuous circle: • Networks, services, applications, users • Supply side and demand side need to work together

14. We need to boost supply… • Not enough to have access; also need to have quality access, at the right cost • Cloud • ‘Always on’ multimedia lifestyles • Online employment and e-/m-Government services Internet traffic and bandwidth Mobile data traffic growth

15. … and facilitate demand • Need to consider: • Availability • Affordability • Attractiveness: will people ‘need’ it, use it? Is it relevant to users • Experience of broadband leaders suggests smart demand facilitation measures (e.g. ROK, Sweden, Finland) North American 3G subscriptions Source: GSMA Wireless Intelligence, 2013

16. Last miles… and first steps Last miles First steps How can we make broadband a tool that will help people and businesses access knowledge, jobs, trade opportunities, and become innovative? Making broadband relevant to the lives of people in the developing (and developed) world Employment Services • How could governments and private firms work together to maximize reach while minimizing cost? • Identifying policies and programs that will foster competition, promote investment, and reduce burdens while encouraging innovation Cost components of a fiber optic network Corning & FTTH Council, 2008

17. Some ideas…

18. A menu of policies • Promote competition • Backbone and access—open access, sharing, fair tariffs • Spectrum • Liberalize spectrum use • Define fair pricing and renewal processes • Share spectrum • Open up new bands (e.g. with the digital dividend) • Infrastructure synergies • Coordinating policies and agencies • Map and open up available infrastructures for alternative use • Create a coordinating framework • Innovate simple no-cost measures • e.g. ‘cyber certification’ of buildings

19. Programs • Integration! • With the innovation ecosystem • Widespread access to quality/affordable Internet is a sine qua non for trade and innovation • With public service delivery (government as anchor tenant) • With what people care about (education, health, business, agriculture) • Raise awareness and skills • The myth of the “digital native” • Promote the use of green and renewable power • Set up competitively-neutral, efficient, and transparent universal service programs • Objective should be to close specific financing gaps, promote private investment • Think innovatively!! Don’t repeat history • OBA/reverse auctions • Bottom-up programs (e.g. Peru) • Virtual USF • Pay or play / mix & match coverage obligations • Broadband challenges: New Zealand

20. Broadband for Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Georgia Siddhartha Raja ICT Policy Specialist The World Bank sraja2@worldbank.org