Our policies and alliances bring broadband meaningfully to the “forgotten five billion."
Vietnam
Following discussions held the week of July 25-29, 2011 with Vietnamese government officials, Digital Divide Institute is now looking forward to incorporating Vietnam as the latest addition to its Meaningful Broadband Coalition. Our aim is to help Prime Minister’s Nguyễn Tấn Dũng implement his brilliant broadband plan announced in October 2010. Declaring that “broadband will be the overall driver of all socioeconomic change up through 2020″, the Prime Minister explained that all conditions were in place to leverage Vietnam’s late-mover advantage to aggressively overtake Malaysia and even Singapore as ASEAN’s dominant broadband player. Here is a summary of the broadband targets set by the Prime Minister which DDI hopes to support.
Vietnam’s Broadband Targets:
| 2015 | 2020 | |
| Household Coverage | 40% | 95% |
| Digital Divide | 95% of “Communes”* | 95% of Villages |
| E-Government (ITU Rankings) | Top 1/2 | Top 1/3 |
| Application Development (UN Rankings) | In Top 50 Nations | In Top 10 Nations |
| ICT Industry Development | Manufacturing** | Services*** |
*Each “Commune” covers six rural villages.
**To be integrated into Asian manufacturing supply chain for devices
***Shift from back-end to end-to-end service provider
Click on Each of Five Boxes to learn DDI’s Plan for Vietnam
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News Wrap |
Broadband You Tube Channel : Yes, there is a channel devoted to broadband-for-all. International Telecommunications Union's Broadband Commission’s videos can be seen here. The Channel was recently filled with fresh content from big thinkers expounding on innovations in technology and public policy needed to bring broadband meaningfully to all seven billion users. One of DDI’s favorite broadband gurus whose views are in the mix is Robert Pepperwho heads public affairs for Cisco Systems in Washington. Check out his views about the need to release of 700 megahertz spectrum, once meant for local TV stations, to produce a “digital dividend” that can lower costs and boost quality of broadband content delivered to the masses. And, while you are at it, check out Pepper’s recent talk at the Barcelona blowout. ” -- Craig Warren Smith |
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What is digitaldivide.org |
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Events |
March 9, Bangkok, DDI Chairman Craig Warren Smith speaks at UNESCAP Expert Group seminar on Asian Economic Integration.
April 23, Bandung, Digital Divide Institute launches Indonesia Meaningful Broadband Research Group at Institute of Technology Bandung.
May 3, Jakarta, DDI Chairman Craig Warren Smith moderates "Asia Pacific Infrastructure Conference," ICT Track.
Broadband is the ultimate game-changer in telecommunications. It is no longer based on voice. Per minute charging is irrelevant. The location of users does not matter. The distance between users is irrelevant to pricing. Broadband is a meta-medium that integrates other media. Each country must disrupt the old rules of telecommunications (and the entrenched interests tied to them) to take advantage of new possibilities of communications in the broadband era.
