Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway
The Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway is a member-driven initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve regional broadband connectivity through a dense web of open access cross-border infrastructure.
Millions of people in Asia and the Pacific are shut out from transformative digital opportunities due to a lack of broadband connectivity. Intent on bridging these gaps, the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) promotes open access and transparency of pricing for the ultimate purpose of increasing coverage, availability, reliability and affordability.
At its core is the creation of a seamless regional network of fibre optic cables to provide both intra-regional and intercontinental connectivity. This enhanced regional fibre network would:
- Drive international bandwidth prices down and improve affordability;
- Increase resilience by offering redundancy;
- Decrease latency across the region;
- Enhance the digital inclusion.
Dialogue among regional countries is already creating a conducive environment to identify missing cross-border connectivity and understand enabling and prohibitive factors affecting the access.
The four pillars of AP-IS:
- Connectivity: nurture effective physical network design, development, and management across the region through inter-governmental negotiation and by improving regulations based on open access.
- Traffic & Network Management: nurture improvement of Internet traffic and network management at regional, sub-regional and national levels.
- E-resilience: promote resilient ICT networks to support disaster management systems and ensure last mile disaster communication.
- Broadband for all: bridge the digital divides by promoting affordable access to underserved areas and providing policy and technical support to governments.
Learn more about the Interactive Maps of the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway.
