Broadband Commission 2021 Year in Review

Over the course of this year, the Broadband Commission has developed new thought leadership on the addressing the barriers to reaching its goal of Universal Connectivity. Through the work of our high-level Commissioners, we have published papers, developed policy recommendations and provided practical applications for advancing global affordability, access and use of broadband.

New data from the ITU Facts and Figures 2021 shows that the estimated number of people who have used the internet has risen 17% since the start of the pandemic, to 4.9B, in 2021 from 4.1B in 2020. However, despite this increase in Internet access and adoption, increased efforts and global digital cooperation are needed to ensure success and concrete movement towards universal connectivity. The Commission continues to produce relevant outputs to guide the policy discussion around connectivity.

Our Year-in-Review Newsletter shares the Commission’s outputs in 2021 as well as the related work of our Commissioners. Stay tuned for more updates in 2022 for more relevant updates on the State of Broadband, news from our partners and updates from the Commission’s current Working Groups on Virtual Health & Care, Smartphone Access, AI Capacity Building and Data for Learning in 2022.