Belarus world's 34th in broadband penetration

27.09.2012

Belarus has been rated 34th by the State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion for All report. Compiled by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development of UNESCO and the International Telecommunication Union, the report evaluates the roll-out of broadband Internet access in 177 economies across the world, BelTA learned from representatives of the Belarusian Information Technologies and Communications Ministry.

Belarus is ranked 34th in the number of subscribers and users of fixed broadband Internet access per 100 residents.

Belarus is ranked 50th in the number of subscribers and users of mobile broadband Internet access per 100 residents. There are 18.9 mobile broadband users per 100 residents in Belarus. It is comparable to the overall development level taking into account when mobile broadband became available in the region.

Belarus is ranked 21st in the number of households with Internet access. While the world’s average is 20.5%, as many as 40.3% of the households in Belarus are connected to the Internet.

BelTA has been told the report allows positively evaluating the intermediate results of the first year since the subprogram National Information and Communication Infrastructure was launched. The subprogram is being implemented as part of the national program for the accelerated development of services in the area of information and communication technologies in 2011-2015.

The program is primarily meant to improve Belarus’ ranking in the development of information and communication technologies by 2015 as rated by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Organization. Thus, by 2015 Belarus plans to advance into the world’s top 30 countries in the development of information and communication technologies.

The report points out the need to encourage the development of broadband Internet access at the national level. At present broadband Internet access penetration is important for the modern society because it contributes to the economy growth and social integration in the country.

xDSL technologies are still the most prevalent technology used for wired broadband Internet access across the globe, with xDSL technologies used for about 60.8% of broadband connections. Data transmission via cable television networks came second, with its share at 19.4%.

Meanwhile, FTTx technologies are developing fast, with the share of fiber to the building solutions at 14.1% of the total connections and the share of fiber to the home solutions at 2.6% of the total connections. They replace conventional copper wires and enable speeds up to 100Mbps.

Similar infrastructure development trends are registered in Belarus. The growing need for information of the Belarusians and, as a result, the demand for more throughput capacity of Internet access channels encourages telecom operators to introduce new access organization technologies, said the source.

Source: BELTA