Last fall, Yankee Group began measuring the pace of global connectivity with a powerful metric we call the Anywhere Index. It’s simply the number of broadband lines, wired or wireless, in a region compared to the region’s population.

Simple, yes: among other limitations it doesn’t measure the usage of those lines, or their value to their users. But when you compare the resulting indices to GDPs in those same regions, you can see a strong correlation, reinforcing the work done by the World Bank, the ITU, and other entities to demonstrate the benefit of global connectivity. And suggesting that however simple it may be, it’s good enough to track large-scale change.

Carl Howe used Yankee Group’s extensive global forecasts of broadband connectivity to then predict which regions of the world would advance soonest to the state we call Anywhere: when a region has at least one broadband line for every resident.

But as Carl points out in his latest publication, we didn’t know at the time how deep or how long the global downturn would last or who would be most affected. “Because of the actual depth and breadth of the recession so far, consumers cut spending on broadband, businesses pulled back on investments in infrastructure, and carriers reduced their broadband deployments. In essence, the growth of the Anywhere Economy stalled in North America and Europe.”

Thus in the fall of 2009, the number of countries that reached Anywhere status a year after the measure’s debut are those that were less affected by connectivity pullbacks. Broadband lines now exceed the population in three markets: South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. Parts of Europe which we originally forecast to reach Anywhere status in 2010–for instance, Sweden and Italy, each with an Anywhere Index in 2009 over 80%–will probably take at least another year to get there.

Nevertheless the global momentum continues, and the total economic impact of the buildout of a global broadband fabric will still be profound. Here you can see that our current outlook for the total value of the Anywhere Network platform itself — independent of access devices, and services atop the network — still closes in on $1 trillion by 2013.

Despite a weak 2009, the Anywhere Economy will grow

Governments around the world now recognize the value of stimulating network expansion. Their investments won’t make up for the lost time in expansion, but they send a powerful message to the private sector: connectivity matters.

For more information on our Anywhere Index and global connectivity forecasts, see our website or get in touch.