This news article says “broadband internet access is becoming so vital for businesses that it can be seen as a new utility comparable to water and electricity, a new United Nations report has revealed.The UN’s Conference on Trade and Development’s 2006 Information Economy Report revealed that growing importance of high-speed internet access was “disturbing news” for the developing world”.Further,”developing countries also often lack the necessary infrastructure to provide the service at a reasonable price, the report said.UNCTAD said developing nations are catching up in the number of overall internet users,In 2005, developing countries accounted for 43.0 per cent of the world’s 1.02 billion users, compared to 53.0 per cent for developed nations and 5.0 per cent for transition economies in ex-Soviet states and southeast Europe.However, developing countries are lagging far behind in terms of the proportion of their inhabitants who use internet, with an average penetration rate of just 8.5 users per 100 inhabitants compared to 54.4 per 100 in industrialised economies.The UN agency noted the difficulty of obtaining comprehensive data on information technology especially in poor countries.Of 151 developing countries covered by the report, only 71 submitted data on the subject.Forty-eight of those 71 countries, nearly two-thirds, said that broadband penetration rates were under 1.0 per cent.In fast-growing China, the penetration rate was only 2.9 per cent, according to the report, although it ranks second only to the United States in terms of the number of internet users”.

Broadband the new utility - UN