TELECOMS
“ Broadband connectivity plays a key role as an enabler of economic growth and prosperity ”
EMMANUEL VELLA VP , EMEA BROADBAND
NETWORKS , COMMSCOPE
JOHN MORRISON SVP OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETS , EXTREME NETWORKS
Hamish White , CEO of Mobilise , stresses that , because broadband is an increasingly vital economic enabler , “ Being digitally connected is as important in today ’ s society as access to any other utility ,” with Ben Bawtree-Jobson , CEO , SiFi Networks explaining that “ Access to broadband is necessary to exercise other fundamental human rights ” - among which he notes are the right to freedom of speech , the right to education , and what the United States Declaration of Independence termed “ the pursuit of happiness ,” intended as the right to pursue social mobility .
The benefits of the digital age are so ingrained in the ways in which we work , play , and express ourselves that it ’ s hard to imagine the world without them . However , while telecom operators and other companies in the communications space focus on new technologies like 5G , industrial IoT , and the birth of smart cities , a shockingly high proportion of people ( in both mature and emerging markets ) languish on the other side of the digital divide .
The Other Side of the Digital Divide Like his contemporaries , John Morrison , SVP of International Markets at Extreme Networks , acknowledges that “ Broadband now underpins much of our daily activities and is integral to the future of economic growth .” Morrison adds , however , that “ a marked connectivity gap in the reliability and speed of broadband still exists between well-connected urban areas and more remote , rural ones .”
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