Broadband access is important because it impacts how the Internet is used. When a community has access
to broadband, it allows them to interact more online and increases the usage of digital tools overall. Access
to broadband is now considered a basic human right by the United Nations, as declared in their 2011
statement:
“Broadband technologies are fundamentally transforming the way we live,” the Broadband
Commission for Digital Development, set up last year by the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said in issuing
“The Broadband Challenge” at a leadership summit in Geneva.
“It is vital that no one be excluded from the new global knowledge societies we are building. We
believe that communication is not just a human need – it is a right.