Mechanisms of access to the Internet in rural areas of developing countries

Because of severe affordability and skills constraints it is especially difficult to bring the Internet to rural areas of developing countries. But a number of promising alternatives are beginning to emerge. These are mainly designed to bring the Internet to non-users, that is, persons who do not actually come into direct contact with the technology. Such persons make up the bulk of the rural population in most developing countries. Two possibilities exist: one that involves intermediation at a distance (blending) and the other that takes place at close range (via say Internet kiosks). I use numerous examples to illustrate the potential of both these categories. For the minority of those who are able to actually use the Internet, costs can be lessened by a combination of communal institutions and technical sharing devices. It is often thought that the Internet is too expensive and complex to be used in the rural areas of developing countries. After all, it is a technology designed in and for the very different conditions prevailing in the developed countries. Yet there are now numerous instances where the Internet is better suited to the low incomes, lack of skills and other features of rural areas in poor countries. At present however these examples are scattered across countries and other divides and they are conceptually not usually related to one another. This paper argues that the relevant mechanisms of access to the Internet can usefully be analyzed with the help of a simple tree-diagrammatic framework. Such an analysis will hopefully inform policy-makers who are keen to bring the benefits of information technology to the less advantaged households in their countries. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. The analytical framework The analytical framework for this paper is summarized in Fig. 1 which employs a decision-tree format. What underlies the figure is mainly the recognition that people can benefit from the Internet without owning or even using it. These benefits can be derived in some cases even by poor, illiterate inhabitants of rural areas in developing countries. In developed countries by contrast the benefits of the Internet are derived almost entirely by ownership of the technology. Another recognition is that for financial reasons use of the Internet will often need to take place communally if it is to reach a large segment of the population. For otherwise this form of information technology will simply be inaccessible to the majority of the population in developing countries. The logical starting point of the diagram is gaining low-cost Internet connectivity. This is crucial because it impinges on the outcome of mechanisms that operate at later stages of the process. Low-cost connectivity is often achieved by using the technology in non-synchronous ways, that is, where the delivery of information does not take place in real time because it involves a time delay. In effect the time lag is being used to bring about reductions in the capital costs of Internet access. Thus . All rights reserved. Internet (low-cost asynchronous connectivity) ownership (developed countries) non-ownership (developing countries) use non-use (predominant in rural areas) 1 technical sharing devices 2 communal institutions 3 Close range intermediation 4 at a distance (blending) Combination of 1 and 2 Fig. 1. Mechanism of Internet access for rural areas in developing countries. Source: Based on James (2009). co st A (synchronous)