Broadband for Africa : Developing Backbone Communications Networks

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa see information and communication technology (ICT) as a necessary foundation for long-term economic development. While the region has been very successful in increasing access to basic voice communications, there has been no comparable improvement in broadband connectivity. In fact, the broadband access gap between Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world is getting wider just as the gap in basic voice communications is getting smaller. This book looks at one critical element of the broadband network infrastructure: domestic backbones. Backbone networks are the high capacity, fiber-optic networks that link disparate geographic areas and transport the high volumes of communications traffic associated with broadband services to customers. Africa's focus, thus far, on mobile networks to address an immediate service need has left backbone networks underdeveloped. This has created a major bottleneck in the rollout of high-bandwidth services and in the upgrading of cellular networks to provide value-added services. Overcoming this infrastructure hurdle is an important element in shaping the structure and policy framework of the telecommunications services sector. Without it, broadband will remain expensive and limited to businesses and high-income customers. This volume takes a comprehensive, analytical view of the policy challenge of backbone networks, starting with the economics and the technology. It develops a set of policy recommendations for governments aiming to raise investment in and access to backbone networks, and lays the foundation for the World Bank's strategy toward backbone communications infrastructure in Africa. This book focuses on one important part of the challenge the lack of high-capacity backbone networks. It addresses three specific questions: What role do backbone networks play in the provision of broadband services? What is the current state of backbone network development in Sub-Saharan Africa and the reasons for this? What can be done to promote the development of backbone networks and thereby stimulate the take-up of broadband services? There are two main reasons why the rate of broadband connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa is so low: prices are very high and availability is limited. The average retail price for basic broadband in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2006 was $366 per month, compared with $6-$44 per month in India. Typical prices for entry-level broadband services in Europe average $40 per month, falling as low as $12 per month in some European countries.