A United Nations commission called on governments and private industry to ensure that at least half the people in developing nations, including the Philippines, have access to the Internet.

The UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Broadband Commission for Digital Development cited the transformative role of broadband technologies in jobs creation and economic development as they stressed no one should be excluded from the new global knowledge.

The two UN attached agencies, leading chief executives, industry leaders, senior policy-makers and government officials have set a target that aims to enable all countries to have a national broadband plan by 2015, in a leadership summit, “The Broadband Challenge’ held in Geneva.

The two UN agencies also raised the need for all countries to have a national broadband plan while making broadband affordable in developing countries through regulation and market forces so that it amounts to less than 5 percent of average monthly income

The goals also include ensuring that 40 percent of households in developing countries have Internet access and that user penetration reaches 60 percent worldwide.

“These targets are ambitious but achievable, given the political will and commitment on the part of governments, working in partnership with the private sector,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, who serves as co-vice chairman of the commission with Unesco Director General Irina Bokova.