The Relationship between Local Content, Internet Development and Access Prices

This research study is the result of a collaboration between the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Internet Society (ISOC) and UNESCO. The study was initially presented at the sixth annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on 27 September 2011 in Nairobi (Kenya).The study confirms that local content, Internet infrastructure and access prices are three inter-related elements. In particular: (i) better connectivity is significantly related to higher levels of local digital content creation (ii) countries with more Internet infrastructure (at all income levels) are also countries which produce more local digital content as measured by Wikipedia entries and by web pages under a given country-code, top-level domain (iii) countries with more international connectivity have lower domestic broadband prices, and countries with better domestic infrastructure have lower international bandwidth prices.         The study concludes that three key lines of policy considerations evolve out of this research: (i) fostering content development, (ii) expanding connectivity, and (iii) promoting Internet access competition.      