ASIA PACIFIC INFORMATION

SUPERHIGHWAY (AP-IS)

Atsuko Okuda

Chief, ICT and Development Section

ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division

ESCAP

Part 1: Digital Divide in Asia and the

Pacific

2

52% of broadband subscribers in Asia

and the Pacific

3

Africa (0.4%)

Latin America & Caribbean (4%)

North America (27.7%)

Europe (28%)

ESCAP (39.9%)

2005

Africa (1.3%)

Latin America & Caribbean (8.5%)

North America (15.2%)

Europe (23.1%)

ESCAP (51.9%)

2014

Global shares of total fixed-broadband subscriptions in 2005 and 2014: ESCAP analysis based on 2014 ITU Figures

Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

(average) from 2000-2014 ESCAP-LDCs, LLDCs,

SIDS

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Fix

ed-B

road

ba

nd

Su

b. p

er

10

0 In

ha

bita

nts

(A

ve

rag

e)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014Year

ESCAP SIDS ESCAP LDC

ESCAP LLDC ESCAP

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators Database,

accessed June 2015.

Differentiated broadband growth

pattern

5

Australia

Azerb

aijan

French Polynesia

Georgia

Hong Kong, China

Japan

Kazakhstan

Korea (Rep. of)

Macao, China

Mal

aysi

a

New Zealand

Philippine

s

Russia

Singapore

Turkey

0

5

10

15

20

25

Fix

ed-B

road

band

Sub

. per

100

(av

erag

e) 2

005

0 10 20 30 40Fixed-Broadband Sub. per 100 (average) 2014

Afg

hani

stan

Armenia

Brunei Darussalam

Fiji

Indi

a

Indones

ia

Kyrgyz

stan

Lao P.D

.R.

Micronesia (Fed. States of)

Mongolia

Pakistan

Palau

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Tonga

Vanuatu

Viet Nam

0

.5

1

1.5

2

Fix

ed-B

road

band

Sub

. per

100

(A

vera

ge)

2005

0 2 4 6 8 10Fixed-Broadband Sub. per 100 (Average) 2014

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from ITU World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators Database,

accessed June 2015.

Proportionate growth between

infrastructure and services

6

Armenia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Russian Federation

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

0

.2

.4

.6

.8

Onlin

e S

erv

ices Index

0 .2 .4 .6Telecommunications Infrastructure Index

2008 2014

ESCAP North & Central Asia

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Iran (Islamic Rep. of)

Sri Lanka

Maldives

Nepal

Pakistan

Turkey

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7O

nlin

e S

erv

ices Index

0 .1 .2 .3 .4Telecommunications Infrastructure Index

2008 2014

ESCAP South & South-West Asia

Source: Produced by ESCAP, based on data sourced from United Nations Public Administration Country Studies/E-

Government Development Index Database, accessed April 2016.

Mobile broadband subscription per 100 inhabitants in

AP (2014)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

ESCAPmembers

East/North-East

South-East South andSouth-West

North andCentra

Pacific ASEAN

44.7

117.4

38.9

18.1

37.9

15.4

42.8

Source : ITU data 2014, analyzed by ESCAP

Global Average 37.2

Developed Countries Average 81.8

7

Mo

bile

bro

ad

ba

nd

su

bscrip

tion

pe

r 10

0 in

ha

bita

nts

Part 2: Introduction of the Asia-

Pacific Information Superhighway

(AP-IS)

8

What is AP-IS?

• Regional Initiative supported by ESCAP

• A regional broadband network covering ESCAP Member countries and associate Member countries from Turkey to Kiribati

• A pillar in ESCAP’s regional connectivity initiatives (together with transport and energy), which aims to facilitate movement of people, goods, money, information and knowledge for sustainable socioeconomic development in the region

• …which addresses the causes of digital divides, develops Internet ecosystem which supports the implementation of the SDGs and stimulates digital economy

9

AP-IS Map

Interactive Map, visit <http://www.itu.int/itu-d/tnd-map-public/>

10

AP-IS Programmatic View

• Bridging digital divides

• Promoting affordable access to underserviced areas

• Policy and technical support to governments

• Resilient ICT Networks

• Support to disaster management systems

• Ensuring last mile disaster communication

• Ensuring efficient and effective Internet traffic and network management at regional, sub-regional and national levels

• Physical network design, development, management at regional level

• Inter-governmental negotiation

• Improving regulations based on open access Connectivity

Traffic/ Network

Mgmt

Broadband for all

E-Resilience

11

Summary of Regional Status and Results

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

Asia &Pacific

Europe TheAmericas

FixedbroadbandsubscriptionsIndividualsusing theInternet

High dependency on submarine

Missing, insufficient, not-integrated terrestrial regional backbone

Weak domesticbackbone/access

Lack of IXPs and Operational workforce

Lack of policy awareness

Lack of open, neutral principles/practice

Severe Tromboning

High transit cost

Low traffic speed & high latency between Int’l backbone links

Physical Backbone

Connectivity

Internet Traffic Management

System

High Cost

Low Quality

Low Internet Penetration

Low demand

Vicious Cycle

12

Fixed BB subscription * ITU 2014 (per 100 inhabitants)

Individual using the Internet

The Way Forward

• Developing AP-IS Master Plan, including goals, main

activities, milestones and priorities : 2nd meeting of the

AP-IS Working Group in Jul/Aug 2016, The Committee on

ICT and STI ion 5-7 October 2016

• Enhancing and updating AP-IS backbone map

• Facilitating Private sector investment opportunities for the

construction of missing fiber optic links : partnership with

development banks, identifying barriers to infrastructure

sharing and network deployments

• Analytical work on ICT connectivity, e-resilience and

digital divides

• Enhanced linkage between SDGs and WSIS within AP-IS

13

Thank you

Atsuko Okuda

okuda@un.org

14