Abu Saeed Khan

abu@lirneasia.net

Senior Policy Fellow, LIRNEasia

Breaking the barriers of

Broadband in Asia-Pacific

Joint Session of AP-IS

Steering Group and

Asian Highway

ESCAP, Bangkok

12 December 2017

Global growth indicators

•Flow of people 1.6x in 11 years• 2002-2013

•Flow of services 3.1x in 12 years• 2002-2014

•Flow of goods 10.5x in 34 years• 1980-2014

Source: UN World Tourism Organization; UNCTAD; McKinsey Global Institute analysis

Source: TeleGeography; McKinsey Global Institute analysisBa

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“It’s a big deal.”

• Nearly 300 submarine cables

spanning over 500,000 miles across

the world’s seabed are the primary

pipeline of transcontinental Internet.

• They are also responsible for $10 trillion worth of transactional value every day.

• It is greater than the GDP of Japan,

Germany, and Australia combined.

Source: TeleGeography

Global Submarine Cable Map

U.S. Federal Communications Commission

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel's

statement on September 17, 2015

Broadband divide within Asia

39%42%

72%76%

81% 81% 82%86%

91% 93% 94% 94% 95% 97% 98%

>4 Mbps

5.5 6.5 7.2 7.6 8.5 8.9 9.5 11.0

14.7

16.0

16.9

20.2

20.3 21.9

28.6

Average speed (Mbps)

11.0%

18.0%

19.0%

20.0%

22.0% 32%

35%

37.0%

52%

65% 71%

72%

72%

73%

85%

>10 Mbps

5.0%

5.0%

6.2%

10.0%

11.0%

11.0%

14.0%

19.0%

32.0%

38.0%

43.0%

51.0%

52.0%

54.0%

69.0%

>15 Mbps

Source: The State of the Internet / Q1 2017, Akamai.

Continental drift

5.5 6.5

7.2

7.6 8.5

8.9

9.5 11.0 14.7

16.0

16.9 20.2

20.3

21.9

28.6

Average speed in Asia (Mbps)

The State of the Internet / Q1 2017, Akamai.

15.3

15.5

15.5

15.6

16.3

16.6

16.9

16.9

17.0

17.4

20.1

20.5

21.7

22.5

23.5

Average speed in Europe (Mbps)

Slower or faster than European counterparts

-9.8-9.0

-8.3 -8.0 -7.8 -7.7 -7.4

-5.9

-3.2-2.3

-1.4 -1.4-0.6 -0.3

5.1

Average speed in Mbps

Source: The State of the Internet / Q1 2017, Akamai.

$0

.45

$0

.53

$0

.54

$0

.58

$0

.59

$0

.60

$0

.60

$0

.60

$0

.61

$0

.67

$0

.67

$0

.78

$0

.80

$0

.88

$0

.91

$1

.79

$1

.83

$2

.24 $3

.60

$3

.77

$7

.24

$7

.25

$7

.69

$1

0.9

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Source: TeleGeography. Data derived from Q2 of 2017

Weighted Median Monthly IP Transit Prices per Mbps:Asia’s highest (Bangkok) is 12x pricier than Europe’s highest (Istanbul)

Cost of bandwidth depends on infrastructure

Terrestrial cables

Submarine cables

Curtsey: Brianna Boudreau, Senior Analyst, TeleGeography.

Very good competition

•Terrestrial & submarine TX

Poor competitionAll submarine TX

Fierce competition

•Coast-coast terrestrial TX

Broadband’s

biggest barrier

Issues keeping Asia’s bandwidth pricier

Submarine Cable repair 2008-2015:

Worldwide average repairs/year

Source: International Cable Protection Committee

Submarine Cable repair 2008-2015:

Average time to begin repair

Source: International Cable Protection Committee

Submarine networks = Terrestrial networks

Courtesy: Ciena

Evolution of technology = Evolution of policy

• 145,000 km meshed across 32

countries (12 landlocked).

• Seamlessly connects Asia and

Europe.

Small step of

Bangladesh for

a global giant leap

• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has approved the proposed amendments to Asian Highway agreement on August 13, 2016.

• It paves the way to deploy optical fiber using 145,000 km right-of-way to digitally interlink Asia and plug the continent with Europe.

Bangladesh has proposed

• Annex II (ASIAN HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION AND DESIGN STANDARDS)

Insert as paragraph 11: Co-habitation of optical fiber for strengthened ICT connectivity

"There is an opportunity to leverage synergies between the concomitant

deployment of optical fibre cables with the construction or maintenance of the Asian Highway Network. Such co-deployment would create additional cross-country Internet transmission routes which would contribute to the reduction of the digital divide in the ESCAP region.

In this regard, parties shall endeavour to utilize the right-of-way of the Asian Highway Network for the co-deployment of optical fiber cables across and withincountries."

Bangladesh has proposed

• Annex II (ASIAN HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION AND DESIGN STANDARDS)

Insert as paragraph 11: Co-habitation of optical fiber for strengthened ICT connectivity

"There is an opportunity to leverage synergies between the concomitant

deployment of optical fibre cables with the construction or maintenance of

the Asian Highway Network. Such co-deployment would create additional cross-country Internet transmission routes which would contribute to the reduction of the digital divide in the ESCAP region.

In this regard, parties shall endeavour to utilize the right-of-way of the Asian Highway Network for the co-deployment of optical fiber cables across and withincountries."

Bangladesh has proposed

• Annex II (ASIAN HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION AND DESIGN STANDARDS)

Insert as paragraph 11: Co-habitation of optical fiber for strengthened ICT connectivity

"There is an opportunity to leverage synergies between the concomitant deployment of optical fibre cables with the construction or maintenance of the Asian Highway Network. Such co-deployment would create additional

cross-country Internet transmission routes which would contribute to the

reduction of the digital divide in the ESCAP region.

In this regard, parties shall endeavour to utilize the right-of-way of the Asian Highway Network for the co-deployment of optical fiber cables across and withincountries."

Bangladesh has proposed

• Annex II (ASIAN HIGHWAY CLASSIFICATION AND DESIGN STANDARDS)

Insert as paragraph 11: Co-habitation of optical fiber for strengthened ICT connectivity

"There is an opportunity to leverage synergies between the concomitant deployment of optical fibre cables with the construction or maintenance of the Asian Highway Network. Such co-deployment would create additional cross-country Internet transmission routes which would contribute to the reduction of the digital divide in the ESCAP region.

In this regard, parties shall endeavour to utilize the right-of-way of the Asian

Highway Network for the co-deployment of optical fiber cables across and

withincountries."

Each country’s share in Asian Highway

Roads and ICT:

Collaborate, Co-deploy and Coexist

Distance is a philosophical

issue

Asian Highway is the preferred right of way

for Asia Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS)

•

•

A bilateral

move that is

shaping global

trade

Rock and Roll

on

Belt and Road

Best effort by Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) cable

Owners: China Unicom, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat, Omantel, Djibouti Telecom, OTEGLOBE,

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd., PCCW, Ooredoo, Mobily, Viettel Corporation,

TeleYemen, Chuan Wei, Retelit, Reliance Jio Infocom.

Terrestrial link to

the Bay of Bengal

Terrestrial link to

the Arabian Sea

China Unicom takes a giant leap

AAE-1 via Pakistan and MyanmarSource: People’s Daily online (March 2, 2016)

• 145,000 km meshed across 32

countries (12 landlocked).

• Seamlessly connects Asia and

Europe.

“Factories” and “Warehouses” of Internet in Asia-Pacific

Major Content Provider Data Center Locations, 2017

Thank you! Questions?