Internet Affordability Report

Everyone should have access to the Internet. So concluded the 193 member states of the United Nations when they agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. Underscoring the potential of the Internet to contribute to global development and empowerment, SDG target 9c calls for universal and affordable access in the world’s least developed countries by 2020. Reaching this goal will require bold and immediate action. On our current trajectory, A4AI predicts that we’ll only hit this target in 2042 — 22 years after the target date set by the global community. Without urgent reform, in 2020 we will see just 16% of people in the world’s poorest countries, and 53% of the world as a whole, connected. We won’t just miss the target, we’ll miss by a mile.

This connectivity lag will undermine global development across the board, contributing to lost opportunities for economic growth. The Affordability Drivers Index (ADI) looks at the policies, incentives, and infrastructure investments in place across 51 developing and emerging countries, and assesses the extent to which they are being implemented. This includes policies which we believe drive progress towards more affordable Internet. Countries that do well on the ADI also tend to have lower broadband prices for their citizens, although the ADI does not measure price directly. Despite falling prices, not one of the 51 countries included in our analysis has met the 5% affordability target for those living in poverty. This is not an issue affecting small numbers of people — 1.9 billion people in the countries covered by the ADI live in poverty.

More key findings:

• Poverty and income inequality are masking the true state of Internet affordability. While 25 of the 51 countries surveyed have met the current target for “affordable Internet” — 500MB of mobile data priced below 5% of average national income — not a single country analysed met the target for those living in poverty ($3.10 or less a day), while just nine countries met the target for the bottom 20% of income earners.
• The high cost to connect continues to exclude billions from the digital revolution. The global goal to provide affordable, universal Internet access focuses specifically on connecting people across the world’s least developed countries, yet 70% of people in these countries cannot afford a basic, 500MB per month broadband plan.
• The affordability “sweet spot” is broadband priced at 2% or less of average monthly income, meaning it is time to commit to a more ambitious “1 for 2” affordability target. When a basic broadband package is priced at this level, access becomes affordable for all levels of income earners. The report proposes a new affordability target: 1GB of mobile broadband priced at 2% or less of average monthly income (“1 for 2”). Driving prices down to the 2% average level will enable large swathes of the population currently priced out of access to get online, while increasing the data allowance to 1GB will allow users to make more meaningful use of the Internet.
• Bold steps are needed to accelerate connectivity among women, the poor, and other marginalised populations. Overcoming the challenges to access posed by income and gender inequalities will require policies designed with these populations in mind. Market forces cannot connect everyone — free or subsidised public access in tandem with digital education will be critical to enabling connectivity for populations left behind.