Asia: Malaysia to get high-speed broadband at investment of USD 4.5 billion The Malaysian government is embarking on an ambitious plan to roll out high-speed broadban services in the country, at an estimated cost of USD 4.5 billion over 10 years. The aim is to reach a broadband penetration of 50 percent of households by 2010 (which is lower than the earlier estimate of 75%, given the slower pace of broadband deployment so far). The effort will be spearheaded by the state-owned Malaysian Telecom. Mc Kinsey conducted a feasibility study that concluded that to reach every home in the country would cost about USD 15.5 billion, which caused the Government to adopt a more conservative strategy of reaching homes in major urban centers first, at a cost of USD 4.5 billion.

Africa: African Internet boom around the corner?

Internet access in Africa is likely to soar in the next few years, with more than a third of Africans expected to have access to broadband services by 2012, experts at the Connect Africa technology summit in Kigali, Rwanda said. Broadband penetration on the continent now hovers at less than 1%, and only an estimated 4% of Africans use the Internet. One of the biggest problems facing internet development in Africa is a lack of interconnectivity. More than 70% of internet traffic within Africa is routed outside the continent, driving up costs for business and consumers. 

Latin America: Mobile broadband momentum grows in Latin America!

Governments in Latin America are working to free up more spectrum for High-Speed Packet Access based mobile services, which is likely to help bridge the digital divide in the region. Indeed Brazil’s regulatory authority is auctioning off licenses in the 2.1 GHz band, suitable for broadband services in densely populated areas, such as large cities. With over 15 commercial 3G networks already launched in Latin America, and many others slated for launch during 2008, the wireless broadband boom is truly coming to this part of the world.

North America: Cable to drive IPTV spending! Also, a new study from Canalys reports that worldwide Internet protocol television subscriptions will hit 39.6 million by the close of 2010. Europe, the Middle East and Africa will remain the biggest IPTV markets, the study said, and North America will have 12.1 million subscribers by 2010.

A seeming dark horse, the cable industry, will drive the IPTV equipment market to US$13 billion by 2012, according to a report, "IPTV Expansion Pack 2007" by Dittberner Associates. About $6 billion of that spending will be in North America where cable is the biggest video player, the report continued. Since 84% of the IPTV revenue would come from cable companies, in Norther America that would amount to USD 5 billion.