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What is the World Broadband Association？

The World Broadband Association (WBBA) is a multilateral, industry-led association, providing leadership for digital broadband innovation across the next decade.

Our objective is to overcome industry challenges and drive the provision of networks and services for all. We aim to accelerate the healthy development of the global telecom industry, creating sustainable benefits for stakeholders, end users, and society.

 

The WBBA is an independent legal entity registered in Switzerland.

Our Vision

We envision a world where everyone has access to high-speed, reliable and affordable connectivity. The WBBA provides an open, multilateral platform for industry cooperation and partnership. Through collaboration with standards and policy organizations, we champion benefits that converged networks and cloud infrastructure can bring. 

Our Mission

The World Broadband Association (WBBA) bring AI, Cloud, and broadband industry leaders to pursue three common goals: Address global broadband industry challenges, create a collective voice, and shape the future of broadband innovation. We are dedicated to closing the digital divide and maximizing the social, environmental and economic benefits for all.

Addressing Industry Challenges

The WBBA was founded to address seven key broadband industry challenges. They are:

Addressing Inequality of Broadband Access
  • 3B people – will be still unconnected by 2024
  • BB access speeds vary significantly by country, inequalities in infrastructure & service delivery
  • 3B people – will be still unconnected by 2024

Developing Impactful Broadband Regulation and Policy

  • Regulators and policymakers can’t rely on market forces alone to deliver ubiquitous BB – new broadband investment models are needed
  • Regulatory complexity and diversity in different countries is hindering growth prospects
Ensuring Sustainable Service Provider ROI
  • BB RoIs for telecoms service providers are very low, rarely going above 1%
  • Next-gen PON FTTx to residential subscribers, SMBs, larger enterprises, and backhaul increase RoI
  • Demand-revenue-investment conundrum impacts RoIs
Enabling Vertical Industry Innovation
  • FBB ensures reliability, low jitter, and low latency – all key for industry vertical IoT transformation
  • Industrial IoT can deliver payback across a range of operational KPIs – and commonly relies on FBB connections
  • Broadband is a key enabler for driving enterprise digital transformation
Delivering End-to-End Experience
  • Broadband access reliability, coverage, and customer service matter as much as high-speed
  • Quality of experience (QoE) is becoming a key requirement
Building a Future-Proof Network
  • Networks must be ready to flex to support future services and business models
  • FTTH offers the best opportunity for supporting long-term evolution of future services – but presents some challenges
  • The road to future advanced digital services requires gigabit technologies, edge-cloud and network automation

Environmental Sustainability Challenge

  • Eco-friendly solutions are required to accommodate widescale broadband growth.
  • Bridging broadband access and ecological responsibility is vital for a sustainable industry future.

Members

Acentura-logos-white-cards
card-adatanetwork
agilenaas-logo
airtel
Alergie-logos-white-cards
alloha_fibra_logo-card
alm-telcoms
analytiks_logo-card
asean-card
asiainfo-card
apu-logo
Atop-logos-white-cards
awasr-logo
axian_logo-card
xl-anxiata-card
aztelekom
baiwu-card
bandarlog-white-cards
BNET-white-2
broadcom-logos-white-cards
bwtech-logo-card3
cablebahama-white-cards
cbng-white-cards
capgemini-engineering-logo-card
cbc_logo-card
ccsa-card
ce-cloud
Century-Albert-logo
chilian_logo-card
cgcmm_logo-card
cict-white-card
mapuni-logo
Chinatelecom-wht
china-tower-logo-card
China-Unicom-white
China-Unitechs-logos-white-cards
cisco
commscope_logo-card
comores-logo
connect-logo-original
converge_logo-card
cov-card
card-_0004_creates
data-card
devotel-white-cards
Dianji-card
digital-carbon-online-white
de-card
dito-card
drivenets-white-cards
du-card
earth-network-logo
efts_logo-card
EITESAL_logo-card
embedd
emtel-card
ethio-telecom
etiya-card
Eversec-logos-white-cards
fastweb
Fiber-Tech-Logo-white
fonds-soziokultur-logo
fpt-telcom-card
gamtel-logo-card-3
gateway-card
gientech-card
gigabit-iq-logo
gah-card
gtt-logos-white-cards
h3c-card
hachi-wave-logo-card
harmonic-logos-white-cards
hmn-tech
HKBN-Logo-wht
huawei-wht
ztel-logo
ICSL-logo
ipv6_logo-card
JiangSu-FunSoo
card-_0003_Layer-4
White-KC-Comm
konica-minolta
card-lenovo
malaysia-univeristy-logo2
maravedis_logo-card-1
megamore-logo
metbox-cards
card-micronet-union
msec-logo
mtn-card
netis
netnic-logo
Neusoft-white
card-_0001_Layer-6
NUS_logo-card
Oceanblue_logo-card
OgCloud-white
omdia-wht
Ookla-logo-white
openvalley-white-cards
Openserve-logos-white
optioai
orion-telekom-logo
p2p-network
propapt-card
pulse-logo-card
raisecom-card
safaricom-card
samm
sentech-white-cards
sst_logo-card
slt-mobitel-card
card-_0000_Layer-7
stc-card
Suburban-card
summit-communications_logo-card
swisscom-wht
tanim-card
technxt_logo-card
tejas-white-card
telkom-logo-card
TFL-LOGO-white-scaled
tianyi-card
true-meridian-card-text
Tsingmicro_logo-card
turkcell-logo
ultrapower-card
UnilakeSystems_logo-card
nus_logo-card
unotelos-logo
UTStarcom_logo-card
utelcom-logo-card
verse_logo-card
whale-cloud
xona-partners
yofc_logo-card
youhua-logos-white-cards
yunj
zain-card
zayo-logo-card
zenithtel-card
zhishu-changlian
Zhongdian-Zhiheng-card
zte-card
ztel-logo

Observers

avidthink
counterpoint
hkt-card
card-national-telecom
sendall_logo-card
tct
tech-machindra
trail-blazer-v3
ttcl
ty-solution-card
vnpt_logo-card

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Key Messages
Key Messages
Recommendations
Recommendations
The Importance of Greater Broadband Investment​
Download White Paper

Key Messages

Advanced cloud technology together with superior end-to-end connectivity can enable a wider and more sophisticated range of applications that can in turn drive greater innovation, efficiency, and wealth.
Both enterprises and broader industry ecosystems are actively looking at broadband’s role in enabling their digital transformation. Most respondents to the WBBA’s Thought Leadership Enterprise Survey stated that they need faster and more reliable internet to run their business applications.
Certainly, in the short to medium term, xDSL, cable modem, fixed-wireless access (FWA), and satellite are all expected to have a role in the delivery of broadband services. However, full-fiber access will always deliver the optimum experience and remains the most sustainable and cost-efficient option.
There is a danger therefore for governments to base their cost-benefit analysis on a national economic view. However, such analysis will miss all the social benefits, as well as the more local economic benefits, that advanced broadband networks can bring. Governments must take all benefits into account, including more localized ones, when creating national broadband policies.
However, future applications will not only need ultra-high-speed services but also ultra-low latency and jitter, with high levels of reliability and consistency if they are to function properly. Countries with networks that are not capable of meeting such criteria will be left behind as the world moves to the next phase of internet applications such as the “metaverse.”
Fiber networks are significantly more environmentally friendly than equivalent copper-based networks, and can help support other green initiatives such as greater working from home, the use of advanced videoconferencing, etc. Fiber-based networks also require less maintenance due to there being less active equipment in the field, and can therefore reduce operators’ operational costs.
With rollout of new access technologies like 5G and Fiber, IPv6 reached more than 30% penetration worldwide (APNIC) and is rapidly growing. IPv6 Enhanced technologies, including segment routing over IPv6, per flow monitoring and AI, enable a multitude of objects and people to be flexibly connected to the proper services, granting end-to-end quality of experience.
Based on the responses from the WBBA Thought Leadership Survey, respondents believed, on average, this coverage could be expanded to approximately 70% through private investment. It is clear that government support will be needed to get to 100%.
However, a lack of data on the available infrastructure, access to key infrastructure such as ducts and in-building networks, and a lack of understanding both internally and externally are also key barriers to further investment.
Respondents to the WBBA survey stated that a reduction in regulatory barriers, greater flexibility in partnership arrangements, copper switch-off regulations, and setting out minimum service standards for network installations, would all take priority over financial support.

Recommendations

All countries must look to maximize the potential of broadband. This means creating long-term national broadband plans that evolve around three basic phases of broadband adoption:

  • Phase 1: Fast deployment of basic connectivity (most likely focusing on wireless technologies)
  • Phase 2: Continued rollout of fixed-broadband access to 100% of premises
  • Phase 3: Continued investment in advanced broadband technologies to move to gigabit societies and beyond.

In order to help facilitate this evolution to advanced broadband networks, government organizations and regulators must consider:

  • Implementing regulatory flexibility, including the removal of outdated or non-essential regulation
  • Introducing flexibility in partnership arrangements; for example, allowing agreements between players, such as co-financing, collaborative models, public-private partnerships, etc.
  • Facilitating deployment through municipality approvals, using existing resources (government buildings, streetlights, ducts, etc.) and sharing infrastructure and facilities, including in-building networks. This should also include other types of utility infrastructure where possible
  • Providing financial assistance through investment support, incentives, and subsidies; e.g., universal service funds
  • Improving access to telecom facilities and physical infrastructure; improving procedures for rights of way and accessing public infrastructure, as well as broadband mapping.
Making the Recommendations a Reality

Operators, enterprises, vendors, regulators, and policy-makers should seek to create a collective voice, to evangelize, advocate, co-create, and partner in the drive toward the provision of ultra-broadband networks and services for all. Organizations such as the WBBA can help by influencing key stakeholders through discussion, education, and promotion. Specifically, the WBBA should aim to:

  • Set out the importance of greater broadband investment, not just for the good of the service provider but for countries as a whole
  • Promote regulatory, legislative, public relations agendas that help advance the interests of members through WBBA publications and live events, highlighting best-practice business models from around the world to remove any “lack of understanding at boardroom level”
  • Influence through research, discussion, and promotion of new potential marketing or naming concepts for fixed broadband to ease mass-market understanding of the different generations of broadband access – hiding technical jargon such as “Mbps,” “latency,” and “jitter” from the customer
  • Through thought leadership, media activity, and live events, continue to make the case for what governments need to recognize and do to close the industry innovation, socioeconomic, and environmental benefit gaps through infrastructure investment
  • Explore through new research the challenges and opportunities arising from changes in the industry structure, addressing its impact on the business and the standardization landscape. This includes aspects of fiber wholesale, the move toward horizontal industry structure with separation of infrastructure and services, and the change of customer relationship to digital
  • Work with stakeholder partners to understand and promote the potential of future applications that will bring new benefits to broadband customers and wider society
  • Develop in-depth thought-leadership research on the new revenue opportunities advanced networks can provide to service providers in both the consumer and enterprise markets
  • Develop and highlight best-practice investment models that show the true return on investment of a full-fiber rollout to both private companies and government organizations
  • Champion the needs of its members to highlight barriers to future investment, creating a platform to enable open discussion between different types of stakeholder to encourage greater cooperation and new partnerships.