Fibre and satellite-based internet are expanding rapidly, democratizing global access
John Garrity 19, independent consultant on digital economy and digital inclusion engagements for public sector and private sector organizations, including to Connectivity Capital, a sector-focused investment management firm providing debt capital to Internet Service Providers, the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development to author 2019 annual report, UNDP as the technical advisor on a national rollout of free public WiFi in SE Asia, and to the UN ITU to develop a last mile connectivity toolkit, September 2019, “THE STATE OF BROADBAND 2019: Broadband as a Foundation for Sustainable Development,” https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/pol/S-POL-BROADBAND.20-2019-PDF-E.pdf
New cable investments and upgrades to existing systems have increased competition in undersea bandwidth significantly, resulting in dramatic decreases in the price of international undersea bandwidth. Total international internet bandwidth has grown more than six-fold in less than a decade from 2008 to 2016, rising from 30 Terabits per second (Tbps) to 185 Tbps in 2016.19 International internet bandwidth prices for IP transit have dropped an average of 27 per cent on a Compounded Annual Average Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2018, whereas for the more expensive traffic routes, annual price declines have been even greater as more undersea capacity comes online.20
Considering geographic proximity to terrestrial fibre nodes, almost two-thirds of the global population (excluding North America) is within at least 50 kilometres of an operational fibre point-of-presence.21
While the vast majority of overall data traffic is carried by undersea and terrestrial fibre, in outer space, significant investments are being deployed to increase the capacity, coverage and capabilities of satellite telecommunications systems.
Currently there are over 4,980 satellites orbiting the earth, with over 775 of those satellites used primarily for communications functions.22 These communications satellites differ widely in their ability to provide data throughput and in the quantity of network communications they provide, in part due to their design generation and their positioning above the earth’s atmosphere, as distance impacts different service parameters, such as latency.
The number of new satellites launched into space in the past two years alone has been at an all-time high, with 453 in 2017 and 382 in 2018.23 A focus by several companies, including some new entrants affiliated with major global technology groups, to establish low-earth orbit (LEO) communications constellations (some expressly targeted at currently under-served communities) will significantly expand the number of telecommunications satellites in operation.24 Intelsat CEO and UN Broadband Commissioner Stephen Spengler discusses the role of satellite communications in heterogeneous network design for universal connectivity in his Commission Insight in Chapter 6 of this report.25