Page 15 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

COVID-19 VS TELECOM INDUSTRY SAMENA TRENDS

COVID-19 Crisis

Broadband Commission Agenda For Action

Never before have broadband networks disabilities, children, rural dwellers, indig-
and services been so vital to our health enous communities, and those residing in
and saf ety and to keeping our economy the most vulnerable countries).
and societies working. Digital is truly the
hidden hero of this unprecedented global A global pandemic demands a global
crisis. response. The stakes have never been
higher. We believe that building, reinforcing
With the new coronavirus continuing to and scaling digital cooperation around
ravage many nations around the globe three key broadband pillars will help
and now beginning to make in-roads in accelerate our collective response to
countries less well-equipped to handle a COVID-19 and lay the groundwork for
major health emergency, immediate action a better and faster recovery built on a
is needed to ensure no one is left behind broadband internet enabled world.
in humanity's collective response to the
crisis. Commissioners and their organizations
are urgently collaborating to compile Commissioners commit to champion and
The Broadband Commission for Sustain- and disseminate a repository of tangible implement this Agenda for Action and
able Development, the UN's high-level actions based on the three pillars of invite all parties – intergovernmental,
public-private partnership, is committed resilient connectivity, affordable access, regional, national, industry, civil society
to putting digital cooperation into action, and safe use of online services for informed and technical and academic communities
to keep economies and societies working, and educated societies, to mitigate the – to join with us to leverage the power of
and to support the world's vulnerable pop- impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and broadband for more effective emergency
ulations (the elderly, refugees and inter- ease the immediate adverse impacts for response and to promote faster and better
nally displaced populations, persons with economies and societies. recovery.
The 3 pillars of the Agenda for Action:

1 Resilient connectivity 3 Safe use of online services for informed and
educated societies
Sustain and extend resilient, stable and secure infrastructure to support all
populations, including emergency responders. Increase bandwidth, restore Support safe use of online services by all,
service access where this has been restricted, strengthen network resilience, especially children and vulnerable population;
manage network congestion, prioritize connections to critical government respect the right to privacy; promote trust and
functions, vital services and strategic connectivity points (such as hospitals, security in the use of data; enable safe digital
pharmacies, emergency centres, transportation hubs…), and ensure continuity content sharing to support e-education, e-health,
of public services, which may require temporary relaxation of regulations and digital agriculture, e-financial services and
other policy measures necessary to fast-track response. mobile payments, and e-government platforms;
empower youth, ensure and promote child
safety online; promote the use of broadband to
2 Affordable Access
provide distance-learning programmes for all
Increase affordability, availability and accessibility of services and devices to ages; empower people with quality journalism
ensure business and service continuity, support digital connectivity to ensure and evidence-based and scientific information
access to information and to promote social cohesion during confinement, and about COVID-19; promote media and information
to help with financial hardship and economic challenges, through measures literacy to detect disinformation and to advance
like price reductions and discounts on capacity, airtime and devices. Support understanding on the dangers of sharing false
alternative funding models for complimentary access solutions. facts about COVID-19.

These proposed immediate actions to address the acute phase of the current pandemic and to save lives will need to be followed by
mid- and longer-term strategies to ensure faster global recovery by minimizing the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and to
prepare for future global challenges. Better recovery will depend on a commitment to our common responsibility to collaborate, partner
and develop more inclusive and sustainable models for preventive and post-crisis development and preparedness for future crises.

15 MARCH 2020