Nigeria, others to reach UN affordable broadband target by 2023

Nigeria, Botswana and Seychelles are likely to reach the United Nations Broadband Commission’s target of affordable broadband two per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita by 2023.

A new report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Measuring Digital Development: ICT Price Trends 2019 revealed that broadband prices in the three countries currently account for between two and three per cent of the GNI per capita.

The report noted that in many African countries, voice packages cost 4.5 per cent of average income, falling short of the global average by 2.5 per cent, while mobile internet users pay 11.5 per cent of GNI or almost three times more than users in other regions who pay 4.3 per cent.

According to the ITU report, in Africa, the most affordable broadband prices are so far only available in Gabon and Mauritius which have managed to position prices below the Broadband Commission’s two per cent target.

The Commission defines internet as being affordable when 1.5 Gigabyte of mobile data is priced at not more than two per cent of average monthly income.

The research suggests that despite the steady reduction in mobile data prices globally and limited incomes, prices in Africa remain out of reach for a large part of the population, costing more than 10 per cent of GNI per capita.

Director, Telecommunications Development Bureau at ITU, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, said: “The COVID-19 global health emergency has made us all acutely aware of the vital importance of broadband networks to social and economic prosperity and global development and I hope this authoritative report serves as a pillar of renewed effort to urgently make digital services more available and affordable to all people of the world.”