[New Delhi, India, September 01, 2017] Huawei held Ultra-Broadband Roundtable during Asia Pacific Emerging Market Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. More than 20 regulators, industry organizations, telecom operators and industry partners were present to join in deep dives on how to further industry cooperation. The agenda also sheds light on initiatives to push forward business innovation in a bid to take hold of opportunities brought by ultra-broadband development. Participants also call for joint efforts to speed up telecom infrastructure construction to enable digital economy.
“Thanks to stable social environment of the Asia Pacific region, countries in the region are progressing with rapid economic growth (GDP averaging more than 6% annually), and life of the people is getting richer. With maturing technologies and the release of the consumer potentials, the average increase of broadband users in the region has reached to 13%, far outweighing that of global average of 8%. Broadband services are no more luxury with limited access, but daily supplies like water, electric power and transportation,” said He Yibo, President of Network Marketing & Solution Sales, Huawei South East Asia Region in his opening speech.
“Although it is estimated that 47% of the world’s population is now online, it still leaves 3.9 billion people offline. Great disparities continue to exist especially in the least developed countries where only one out of seven people are connected. This is the common issued faced by Emerging Market like Asia Pacific. As we all known, the ICT development in Asia Pacific is going through with diverse challenges. In this market, systematic guidance and policies for national broadband development are yet to come in place, telecom infrastructure needs to be reinforced, broadband network coverage must be expanded, and local content and applications are still in a shortage. However, we can’t ignore the great opportunities hidden beneath such challenges. ” said Ioane Koroivuki, Asia and the Pacific Regional Director of ITU.
According to ITU, for every 10% increase of broadband infiltration, an extra of 1.3% of GDP growth will be contributed. This contribution is even more impressive for developing countries, often with a remarkable growth of 2% to 5%. Broadband infrastructure has been an important part of national economic development. That’s why we are calling for governments to go all out to push forward national broadband services.
In this roundtable, participants also shared pragmatic recommendations on how to accelerate broadband development in Asia Pacific region.
- Escalate FBB to national strategy: Governments must take the lead to promote national broadband development, provide guidance to broadband investment, encourage operators to invest on family broadband development, and deploy the PPP model to expand broadband coverage.
- More grounded industry policies: Municipal infrastructure must be shared and application for rights of way must be streamlined to build networks in a speedy, low-cost manner with faster ROI.
- Efficient investment: Governments must encourage developers or property management of building blocks and residential quarters to take in broadband access as part of must-have services, while operators are obliged to hotspots for high-value areas, a model that produces win-win benefits for all.
According to senior management from Huawei, as a world’s leading ICT solutions providers, Huawei enjoys rich ICT consultancy capabilities, well-established experiences in delivering national broadband projects, and a worldwide platform to develop telecom talents. Huawei stands ready to join hands with countries in the region to promote the broadband industry and build a better connected Asia Pacific Region.