UN wants broadband for half the world by 2015

NEW YORK - Half of the world’s population should have access to high-speed internet within five years, the UN said Sunday.

The world’s governments should put internet access at the top of their agendas, said Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the UN’s International Telecommunications Union.

“The leaders of the world are unified: the future will be built with broadband,” he said.

Even in developed countries, broadband access has yet to reach 50 percent. The ITU estimates the figure to be closer to 30 percent in the developed world and only one in 10 in developing countries. In the poorest countries, the figure is closer to one in 100.

However, there is no universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes “broadband”.