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The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly challenging for developing countries because of pre-existing poverty and severe inequality. Governments tended to set public safety as a primary goal, but it could not be their singular goal. Broadband was an important feature of any policy solution. Business lockdowns, school closures, and social distancing led to an unprecedented acceleration in the demand for broadband. But the government restrictions on social and economic interactions made it difficult to maintain and expand broadband networks. Governments might have let markets work out this challenge of escalating demand and increasing costs of supply, but few did. Governments quickly grew to believe that it would need cooperative relationships among multiple government agencies and private businesses to answer what appeared to be a broadband shortage. Regulatory controls over broadband providers were quickly suspended in favour of developing common goals and coordinated efforts. These approaches proved effective, although citizens continued to suffer from the pandemic.

This chapter is contextual in nature. It provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19, highlighting both the significant number of deaths caused by the pandemic as well as the economic disruption that occurred. Particular attention is paid to the role of digital technologies during the pandemic, which enabled a wide range of activities (e.g. work, education and shopping) to go online. The disruptive impact of COVID-19 is widespread and far-reaching, with the pandemic acting as a ‘change agent’ expanding and encouraging the greater use of digital technologies. The second half of the chapter presents summaries of the other chapters in the book. In doing so, it illustrates the scope and scale of the impact of COVID-19, the multitude of different challenges it has caused, and how these varied across different regions and contexts, as well as the diversity of reactions to the pandemic. Some of these reactions are technical in nature, while others are commercial and political. The summaries also draw attention to ongoing policy debates, the significance of which has been heightened by the pandemic.