Broadband Internet: The Newest Human Right?

According to Dr. Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), broadband internet is the key to all sorts of development problems. In fact, he goes as far as to tell the BBC that access to information via the internet "should be a universal human right."

Internet a human right? I've never heard that one before. When stacked next to universal education, freedom of speech, food security and the like, surfing the web doesn't seem to measure up. But as Dr. Toure points out, internet access can help facilitate all these things.

For example, e-health and e-education programs can bring remote villagers state-of-the-art tools and up-to-date information at their finger tips. Small businesses can expand their markets and increase advertising. Marginalized and oppressed peoples can build advocacy and solidarity networks. And Dr. Toure is not just tooting his own horn on this issue. Even 10 years ago world development experts included expanding access to communication technologies as a target to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

But the global disparities in broadband connectivity are still severe. While developed countries have made broadband internet access virtually omnipresent (Finland has even made it a legal right), the story in the poorest parts of the world is quite different. In places like the Central African Republic, customers are paying over 40 times their monthly income for a fixed broadband connection.

There's no doubt that this will have to change if developing countries want to fully engage with the global economy. But as with all the other universal human rights, question remains as to who will foot the bill. Can poor governments really add broadband connection to the list of basic public services when they can't even manage to provide clean drinking water, decent roads, or reliable electricity?

Photo Credit: Theo R