Internet access has been a longstanding measure of connectivity – whether people are online or offline. The Alliance for Affordable Internet is proposing a new standard, meaningful connectivity. We discuss what it means, and whether the proposed minimum thresholds as appropriate.
The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) recently launched a campaign for us to revisit how we measure Internet access. Typically, when we speak of Internet access, it is whether or not individuals are connected, or not connected, to the Internet: whether they are online or offline. However, and according to A4AI, that measure gives no indication of the extent to which people are using the Internet, and the quality of the connectivity to which they have access, which inherently conceals the degree of the digital divide in our communities. To that end, A4AI is proposing a new standard be adopted that goes beyond focussing on whether people are online or offline.
The ‘Meaningful Connectivity’ standard measures Internet access across the following four dimensions:
- how regular the internet is being used
- whether an appropriate device is being used
- whether users have enough data; and
- how fast is the internet connection.
A4AI has proposed minimum thresholds for each of the measures, with the objective that they will be adopted targets and goals for digital development. In the paragraphs that follow, we explore each meaningful connectivity element, and the suitability of the minimum thresholds that have been proposed.
1. Regular internet use
There are those of us who are connected to the Internet all day, every day. We need to be connected for work, but also we use it for entertainment, and even to help us manage our lives. On the other hand, there are those who connect to the internet occasionally – a few times per week. Use for those individuals is not as intensive. They may need to check their emails every few days, and they get a few WhatsApp messages during a week, but all-in-all, although they enjoy having Internet connectivity, it may not be as integral to their lives when compared with the first group.
A4AI is of the view that it is when we use the Internet regularly that benefits are realised. As a result, it has proposed that a minimum threshold for this meaningful connectivity is daily access to the Internet.
As our societies become more digital, and there is deeper integration of ICT in systems and processes, it is likely that daily access to the Internet will become the norm. However, and unlike today, where much of the Internet activity by a large cross-section of our societies is entertainment-related, such as around social media and video streaming platforms, it is hoped, concomitant with the proposed daily access to the Internet, that there will be more meaningful and purposeful use of the Internet.
Meaningful and purposeful activity is a function of the content that is available online, and the extent to which it is truly relevant to individuals’ lives. For example, for tradespeople and those who work in the agricultural sector, there might be little locally-relevant content that would facilitate – or even justify – daily connectivity. Hence, that is a deficiency that perhaps merits attention. However, as more government and business services go online, especially in the Caribbean region, and obviate the need for in-person engagement, the minimum threshold is likely to become a reality.
2. An appropriate device
The device on which the Internet is accessed can make all the difference to the experience enjoyed. Basic mobile/cellular phones tend to have limited Internet access and browsing capability. As a result, A4AI recommends that at a minimum, people are accessing the Internet via a smartphone, which has the functionality to create and consume content, whilst also being portable.
As a starting point, a smartphone can be an easy and cost-effective medium through which to connect and use the Internet. In the Caribbean region, for example, basic smartphones can be purchased starting around USD 25.00, thus making it more accessible for those with lower incomes to access the Internet access.
However, smartphones should only be seen as a starting point, in terms of devices through which to leverage the Internet. Although smartphones can be powerful, multifunction devices, they still have limitations. To varying degrees, they offer an abbreviated experience of online platforms and software products through the use of applications. In order to access the full functionality of digital products and platforms, a computer would be preferred, but tends to be considerably more expensive than the average smartphone.
Hence, as a minimum, a smartphone can be used to access the Internet, cognisant that it tends to offer a watered-down experience. Although its portability is a distinct benefit, it is still limiting in the extent to which one can leverage technology via that medium.
3 Enough data
With so many of us streaming video these days, 100MB, or even 1 GB, does not get us a lot of content. During the COVID-19 experience, telecoms companies observed a marked increase in the bandwidth being consumed, and many of us experienced performance-related challenges due to congestion on the networks.
For mobile devices, typically, there are data caps, the size of which varies depending on the plan purchased. However, it tends to mean that people need to be prudent when accessing the Internet, and more so, the content that they access, in order to manage the bandwidth they have purchased.
To that end, A4AI is of the view that data scarcity – when people do not have enough Internet data to do all of what they would like, or need, to do – diminishes the meaningfulness of a user’s connection. As a result, it is recommending that the minimum threshold for this metric is that people have access to an unlimited broadband connection at home, or place of work or study. Further, the organisation is of the view that it is when unlimited connectivity is available, that people will be in a position to use the full breadth of the internet’s potential.
In order to have meaningful connectivity, and at the very least, purposeful online activity, people need to have access to sufficient bandwidth. Although mobile access might be the more ubiquitous means, mobile broadband data can be expensive, and beyond the budget of a wide cross-section of the society, if daily and intensive use is required.
Although A4AI is proposing that at a minimum. people have access to unlimited broadband connectivity, the individual may not be the one paying for it – unless it is at his/her home. If this connectivity is at school or workplace, it is not there to facilitate personal use, but rather, the activities associated with school and work. However, even in that context, it would still be beneficial for people to have unfettered access, in order to fully leverage the potential the Internet has to offer.
4. A fast connection
Finally, so many of us are routinely frustrated by the slow Internet upload and download speeds we experience, especially when based on the Internet plans we have purchased, we should be having considerably better performance. In relation to mobile broadband, we also experience uneven transmission speeds and quality, as the network tends to be a jumble of technologies overlaying each other. As a result, we may experience 2G, 3G and 4G quality service, within a relatively small area, and/or at various times throughout the day.
On this front, cognisant of the importance of Internet speeds to the online experience, A4AI is recommending a minimum threshold of the 4G standard for mobile devices. Further, the organisation acknowledges that fast connectivity is crucial for some online services, such as telehealth, and other data-intensive activities.
Although proposing 4G as the minimum connectivity speed seems ambitious, the truth is that many of our online activities have become data intensive – whether it is streaming video content, or video calling or conferencing. Further, for standards less than 4G, the transmission speeds, as discussed in our article, EDGE, WiMAX, 3G, 4G: what’s the difference?, tend to be quite low, and are likely to cause performance-related challenges.
Luckily, and in the Caribbean, 4G has been deployed in most countries, but might not be available country-wide, and especially in rural areas. To achieve ubiquitous coverage, would require additional infrastructure and upgrades to the existing networks, which is expensive, and for which a suitable rate of return might not be guaranteed. Hence, specific policy and regulatory intervention may be required, in order for this (minimum!) threshold to be achieved.
Image credit: Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)
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