Government Policies and BWA

US
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) was unveiled in March 16, 2010 by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to improve Internet access in the United States.
The goal of the NBP was to provide 100 million American households with access to
100 Mbit/s connections by 2020.
Despite its high GDP per capita and rapid technological advancement, as of Q2
2014, only about ___% of Americans had broadband access. The lack of BWA in rural
and low income areas in the United States resulted in the low penetration rate as
compared to the rest of the developed and developing world. The Obama
administration also announced its plan to have high-speed broadband internet
connection available to 99% of the student population within the next 4 years. The
high cost of access however may dampen efforts to realize the target set by the
government. Despite the affordability issues, the potential for the BWA market to
grow in the United States is apparent as the government continues to push for the
rollout of broadband to the millions of people who remained unserved in mostly
rural America.

UK
The United Kingdom government initiated the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) in
2012 to deliver superfast broadband to 95% of the population by 2017. The
broadband delivery framework has so far cost the government 1.7 billion and has
resulted in more than 1 million homes and business becoming connected by the
project to date. The Office for National Statistic (ONS) has identified nearly 4 million
households without BWA. These may be properties in rural areas without fixed
networks in place or areas that are not commercially viable with private funding
alone.

Ireland
The Ireland government has also drafted a National Broadband Plan to rollout high
speed broadband throughout the country. The government listed several goals to
demonstrate its commitment to high speed broadband availability across the
country namely:
- 70Mbps - 100Mbps to more than half of the population by 2015;
- At least 40Mbps or more to at least the next 20% of the population and up to 35%
for smaller towns and villages; and

- A minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country
regardless of how rural or remote.
The faster speeds will be funded from ongoing industry investment, from the
release of spectrum for 4G mobile services, and from state investment. The rollout
of fast broadband in less densely populated areas will also require private sector
funding for services which otherwise are not commercially viable. The demand for
BWA is therefore set to increase through the government's initiatives and
commitment to accelerate the rollout of fast speed broadband.

Asia
In Asia, Japan and South Korea remain one of the world's most advanced economies
in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Both countries are also one of
the world's most wired along with highest broadband penetration rates. The
governments of both countries play a contributive role in the telecommunications
development and technology advancement. SK's bb revolution for example began in
2002 when the government began managing competition in the telecoms market.
By 2004, the construction of SK's Broadband Convergence Network (BcN)
commenced in a bid to provide integrated networks and services to a total of 35.01
million subscribers nationwide. The SK's also carried out various policies to promote
broadband growth and this has resulted in BWA becoming readily available
nationwide today.
In the light of the above, governments do need to take an active role in ensuring
that competition is exuberant in the market for broadband wireless. Competition in
turn spurs technological innovations and improvements. This will also create a
greater opportunity for the BWA market as governments recognize the importance
of the role of the Internet towards education, economic growth, social development
and healthcare.