A UN report reveals that more than half of the world’s population is still offline. According to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union report, the online population has increased from 43% in 2015 to 47.1%. Technological advancements that accompanied ubiquitous mobile network coverage have lead to an increase in internet connectivity. Mobile broadband networks geographically cover around 84% of the population as of this year. Yet, only 47.1% can access them. High prices, unavailability of internet enabled devices, technological illiteracy and other such barriers prevent people from making full use of the opportunities provided by the internet.
According to Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, internet availability must be realised by grassroot development approaches that tackle country level problems before suggesting global solutions. Facebook and Google have made efforts to provide internet connections even in the rural and poor areas of the world. Zeus suggested that other players such as Microsoft and Amazon also carry the same onus and must take on their share of the responsibility for connectivity to truly flourish.
In Canada, an optic fibre connection is extended to every school. The schools then distribute the connection to towns where people do not have it. Such plans must be emulated by the densely populated regions of India and China as well. Internet usage witnessed its largest boom in developing countries. However, many are yet to procure a smartphone; and others still don’t realise the internet capabilities of their devices. Internet connectivity and usage are highest in South Africa while the lowest is in Niger, Chad, Guinea- Bissau and South Sudan.
The primary barrier for the vast majority of the poor lies in purchasing an internet enabled mobile phone, and not in availing network services after. In 2008, a basic fixed-broadband connection cost $80 per month. This dropped to $25 per month last year. The Telecommunication Union reported that 3.9 billion people do not have access to mobile internet. Offline users generally tend to disproportionately be female, elderly, less educated, poor and living in rural areas. Connectivity is projected to increase in the next few years.
In poorer countries the fixed-broadband monthly package provides only one gigabyte of data. To put this in context, citizens would have to pay half the average annual salary to avail data barely sufficient to download a single movie. It is imperative that better data about internet availability is gathered, and that awareness about the importance of the internet in today’s day and age is spread to facilitate an egalitarian society that provides equal opportunity for all.
