Access to broadband connectivity is a country s passport to the global information society and knowledge economy the future. However, the adoption and use of broadband technology today remains extremely uneven and threatens to create a new digital divide. At the end of 2009, countries in North America and the European Union accounted for more than 50 percent of the world s 1 billion fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions, but South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa together accounted for less than 3 percent. The experience with mobile telephony though shows the potential for growth in the...