{"id":150668,"date":"2019-11-08T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=150668"},"modified":"2019-11-07T17:45:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T22:45:43","slug":"broadband-internet-affordability-key-findings-caribbean-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/11\/broadband-internet-affordability-key-findings-caribbean-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadband Internet affordability: key findings and how the Caribbean measures up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) published its latest Affordability Report. Some of the key findings are highlighted and are discussed from a Caribbean perspective.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In late October, the <a href=\"https:\/\/a4ai.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)<\/a> published the <a href=\"https:\/\/a4ai.org\/affordability-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2019 Affordability Report<\/a>, which aims to monitor the extent to which affordable, accessible, and universal Internet access is available worldwide, and particularly developing countries. The report also includes analysis and recommendations that countries can consider implementing in order to realise Universal Internet Access.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2019 report, and as was noted in our <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2FmvCh9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview last year with A4Ai\u2019s Research Director, Dhanaraj Thakur, on the 2018 report<\/a>, very few Caribbean countries are included in the assessment. Although 61 countries were examined, only the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica were examined. However, the discussion and analysis of the findings may still be applicable to the wider Caribbean region. In the sections that follow, we highlight key findings of the latest Affordability Report, and discuss them from a Caribbean perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The A4AI 2019 Affordability Report<\/h3>\n<p>The bedrock of the A4AI Affordability Report is the Affordability Drivers Index (ADI) which assesses select indicators that are considered key drivers of Internet affordability. The indicators have been categorised into the following two sub-indices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Infrastructure sub-index<\/strong>, which examines the extent of infrastructure deployment and operations, along with the policy and regulatory frameworks, are in place to support infrastructure investment and expansion; and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Access sub-index<\/strong>, which measures the broadband adoption rate in the country under review, plus the extent to which the supporting policy and regulatory frameworks are in place in order to realise affordable and equitable access.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the 2019 exercise, all of the upper-middle income countries, consistent with the World Bank\u2019s definition, were ranked within the top 30, with Malaysia being the top-ranked countries with an ADI score of 85.33, out of a maximum of 100 points. The Dominican Republic and Jamaica were also classified as upper-middle income, and were 10th and 17th, respectively, whilst Haiti, was classified as a low income country, and was ranked 59th out of the 61 countries examined.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the ADI results, some of the sobering findings of the report, including the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8211;\u00a0 51% of the world\u2019s population is online.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211;\u00a0 Cost is the biggest barrier to access, keeping people offline.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211;\u00a0 In low- and middle-income countries, 1 GB data costs 4.7% of average monthly income. This is more than double the United Nations \u20181 for 2\u2019 affordability threshold \u2014 1GB of data for no more than 2% of average monthly income.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211;\u00a0 Only 37 of 100 countries included in A4AI\u2019s mobile broadband pricing survey have reached the \u20181 for 2\u2019 affordability threshold.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8211;\u00a0 Over 1 billion people live in countries where broadband data is not affordable.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">(Source:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/1e8q3q16vyc81g8l3h3md6q5f5e-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/AR-2019-Press-release.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A4AI<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the Caribbean region, the affordability of 1 GB of data is likely to be well below 4.7% of average monthly income, and should be closer to the United Nations threshold of 2% of average monthly income. Further, and in most countries, mobile\/cellular broadband access has been growing steadily, and is being supplemented by free Wi-Fi access in schools, libraries, post offices and community centres.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The state of the broadband market affects affordability<\/h3>\n<p>Essentially, the extent to which there is competition in the Internet market is a key contributor to declining rates. A4AI\u2019s research seems to suggest that the greater the competition the greater the savings consumers experience \u2013 than if competition is poor or if there is a monopoly. However, the report acknowledged the importance of broadband policy to shape the enabling environment, which in turn can have an impact of the rates payable, and consequently the affordability of Internet service.<\/p>\n<p>In the Caribbean, and across most countries, they tend to have only two Internet network operators and service providers. Arguably, those markets would be considered to have limited competition. However, based on the relatively small populations of most of the countries, more players in those markets might not be practicable or sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>Although it might be possible to manage the impact of that \u2018limited competition\u2019 through the policies are adopted, broadband policies across the region tend to be dated, and so do not reflect the current environment or imperatives. As a result, a cogent approach to broadband, and to wider ICT development, is absent in many countries.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Developing the infrastructure to support access and competition<\/h3>\n<p>In order to realise universal access, the requisite infrastructure must be widely deployed. However, due to the cost, time, effort required to successfully execute and deliver on infrastructure-related projects, the report emphasised the need for \u201c<em>both strong political will and substantial financial capital<\/em>\u201d. Further A4AI made it clear that due to the time and investment required for most infrastructure projects, they cannot be considered \u201cquick fixes\u201d, and so may need medium to longer term horizons for full implementation.<\/p>\n<p>In the Caribbean, and to a considerable degree, the countries rely on private investment, particularly from the network operators, in relation to broadband infrastructure build-out and maintenance. Hence, determining the infrastructure and technology needs and priorities tends to be the sole purview of the operators.<\/p>\n<p>Frequently, and across most countries, there is high geographic coverage of fixed line and\/or mobile broadband Internet. However, the technology accessible is not consistent across the entire coverage area. For example, in the cities and other major urban areas, high speed broadband and 4G LTE (fourth generation Long term Evolution) technology may be available, whilst in the rural areas, considerably lower speed fixed-line access and 2G EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) might still be the norm.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, and in areas that are underserved or uneconomical for more extensive network deployment and upgrade, there may be few policies or incentives through which to address those issues. Many Caribbean countries have Universal Access\/Service frameworks, which in principle, could offer a means through which underserved communities and\/or segments of the population could better access broadband services. However, those frameworks may also be dated, or may not be fully implemented, resulting in an ineffective mechanism.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Public access can drive broadband market development<\/h3>\n<p>A4AI identified free or low-cost public Wi-Fi access as a means through which some citizens are exposed to the Internet. Further, and in addition to expanding connectivity, these access points can stimulate demand broadband services among consumers, and can facilitate delivery of a broad range social benefits.<\/p>\n<p>In the Caribbean Wi-Fi hotspots are popular, with many businesses offering free Wi-Fi as an inducement to attract customers. Moreover, some countries have undertaken initiatives to have free Wi-Fi available in public spaces, and\/or in major towns, or even countrywide.<\/p>\n<p>However, in recent years, Caribbean mobile\/cellular operators have been aggressively marketing their mobile data packages, and have been offering plans at a broad range of price points. Further, they have also been zero rating access to many of the popular online platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia, which no longer consume any bandwidth of the mobile data plan purchased, thus attracting more customers and encouraging greater mobile broadband use.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit:\u00a0 Gerd Altmann\u00a0from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) published its latest Affordability Report. Some of the key findings are highlighted and are discussed from a Caribbean perspective. &nbsp; In late October, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[293,291,32,281,334,15],"class_list":["post-150668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ict-tech","tag-affordability","tag-broadband","tag-information-society","tag-internet","tag-mobile-broadband","tag-trends","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Photographer-lens-Wifi-Wi-Fi-Tablet-Gerd-Altmann-Pixabay.jpg?fit=1024%2C566&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-Dc8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150668"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150673,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150668\/revisions\/150673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}