TRENDING
content online and its consequences in their intimate
relationships and family responsibilities.
“Our research reveals that a significant urban-rural divide
remains in opportunities to access the Internet.” said Dr
Alison Gillwald, Executive Director of Research ICT Africa.
“Too often the debate over zero-rating glosses over the fact
that many people in rural communities don’t even have
access to the best subsidised offerings and have to spend
largely disproportionate amounts of their already low-income
on mobile access, and that’s assuming they can even find
electricity to charge their devices.”
“Given all the controversy around zero-rating, it’s surprising to
see how few research respondents in these African countries
actually use or depend on zero-rated data. We are, however,
seeing a lot of interest in Equal Rating-compliant models
which provide access to all of the Internet, not just some parts
of it,” said Jochai Ben-Avie, Senior Global Policy Manager at
Mozilla. “More must be done to connect the unconnected.
This research makes clear that it’s critical we all focus more
on barriers like healthy competition outside urban areas,
electricity, digital literacy and gender power relations.”
Research reveals affordability a barrier to Internet
access in Nigeria
Zero-rated services are still relatively new to the Nigerian
market, with Airtel launching Facebook’s Free Basics and
Facebook Flex only last year. Awareness and use of zero-rating
remains low in Nigeria, a country which enjoys some of the
cheapest data prices in Africa. Results of the research included
the following findings:
• Many rural users see the Internet as their access to the
civilized world and the gateway to the places around the
globe where they have friends and family.
• Overall awareness and use of the Internet has gained
traction, especially as use for social interactions or as a
business or career enabler. A majority of participants,
whether in rural or urban areas, rank the purchase of data
high on their personal expense list.
• There is a general belief that mobile network operators
charge a hidden tariff, and whatever airtime is on the phone
will be eventually deducted by the operator if one subscribes
to a subsidised service.
• Many non-users want to use a ‘big phone’ (a smartphone)
and would rather wait until they can afford one than use a
more limited version of the Internet.
• Though the price of brand new smartphones keeps
dropping and they can be bought for as low as $20,
affordability challenges persist.
“Even in a country with some of the lowest rates for data
and devices in Africa, the cost of buying a smartphone in
Nigeria is still a challenge for many,” said Dr Alison Gillwald.
“Affordability gets disproportionate attention, but we need
to do much more to improve digital literacy and supply side
issues like network quality and speed.”
www.intelligentcio.com
“If we don’t look beyond
access issues to the real
concerns around privacy and
security, for example, we’ll
never bring all of the Internet
to all people.”
“This research demonstrates that Nigerians want access to all
of the Internet, not just some parts of it,” said Jochai Ben-Avie.
“If we’re to bring all the Internet to all people, we need to
do more to improve digital literacy and understanding of the
Internet, especially among low-income individuals and those
in rural and deep rural communities. At Mozilla we believe in
equal rating for all Internet users so that this shared global
resource is not held hostage by the wealthy.”
Research reveals Kenyans offline due to prohibitive
costs and security fears
The Communications Authority of Kenya reports that some
38 million people – about 82% of the population – were
online in 2016. The four mobile operators in the country have
4G Internet connections on mobile but not in all parts of the
country. Researchers’ findings include:
• Social media tops the list of uses for the Internet and there
is even a perception among some users that the Internet is
about social media.
• The price of data bundles and Internet-enabled phones
render the cost of doing what most users want to do online
prohibitive to many.
• Strategic solutions for high costs include working late into
the night before reward bundle periods expire, visiting
friends who have Wi-Fi at home, and using multiple
promotions from different operators.
• Even when people have smartphones, they do not always
carry them for offline security reasons. In particular,
there are concerns that thieves may frequent areas
with free public Wi-Fi in order to steal patrons’ Internet
enabled devices.
• National network coverage was seen to be a challenge for
both voice and data, particularly in rural areas.
“While Internet access is good in Kenya relative to elsewhere
in Africa, real barriers remain to Internet use,” said Dr Alison
Gillwald. “If we don’t look beyond access issues to the real
concerns around privacy and security, for example, we’ll never
bring all of the Internet to all people.”
“One participant in this study reported concerns about getting
skin cancer from their phone, proving there’s a lot more
we still need to do to improve digital (and health) literacy,”
said Jochai Ben-Avie. “At the same time, Kenyan Internet
penetration is on par with some of the most developed
INTELLIGENTCIO
17