Broadband access in developing countries: Access technologies, policy issues and solution

Broadband is considered as a backbone of knowledge-based economy. It has gained special attention all around the world due to its importance in economic growth of a country and operators are taking it as an opportunity to compensate for their declining voice and narrowband revenues. The analysis of the various broadband access technologies and their market shares is discussed. WiMAX is emerging new technology, especially for developing countries of the world, due to its speedy and low cost infrastructure deployment characteristics. Both developed and developing countries are increasingly deploying WiMAX networks not only to expand their existing network capacities but also as a mean of providing connectivity to remote areas. By using the case study research approach, broadband penetration and policies in Pakistan are discussed and a solution for providing connectivity to rural areas is proposed. Both, policy makers and regulator will have to play active role to achieve the growth in broadband penetration.