The information economy is the destiny of the global markets, and the Internet has become its true foundation. However, presently, only about one of every three people in the world has access to the Internet. The transfer of work and school to the online mode has brought in the limelight the shortage of access to high-speed broadband internet in most parts of the world. When extending access to high-speed Internet, one tends to think of rural areas in specific. However, the costs of connecting to broadband can be a similar quandary in urban areas too. So, what are the costs and gains of this broadband expansion everywhere?
Out of the world’s 7 billion people, only about 2.7 billion can access the Internet. High-quality, low-cost broadband opens access to business, remote work possibilities, refined online learning, tele-health, and more! Innovative and reformative solutions such as social media, search engines, e-marketplaces, and their subsequent confluence have pervaded society and reshaped productivity, economic growth, and business creation. Relying on subscriptions and subscription-based billing systems can be a key trigger in stimulating internet access in the areas of internet deprivation.
Broadband Expansion: The Advantages
Extension of broadband and mobile internet access indicates that more people can experience the connected component of the world’s privileges. Broadband Subscription Billing is one sure shot way to encourage an affordable way of internet ownership in resource-poor areas.
Internet connectivity has already revolutionized many tenets of the lives of individuals in developed markets, building unique methods to interact and emulate new business models and start-up entrepreneurship, and more resilient ways for companies and employees to function.
It is essential to realize that the connection between internet access and economic growth is powerful and ever-evolving at the same time. Access to the Internet is linked to individual income levels. For tangible progress in internet access to unfold, income levels corresponding to the price of a connection will also have to grow. The Internet is not a replacement for other basic necessities, but an empowering technology that benefits people to communicate beyond distances and cultural spheres to share knowledge, thus expediting innovation and behavior that can demonstrate real transformation.
In case developing countries reach the levels of internet access in developed marketplaces, they could achieve a penetration level of around 75%! This signifies that an extra 2.2 billion people would obtain internet access. A robust ISP billing management helps brownfield and greenfield broadband players to gain a secure edge in expanding their business avenues at the same time.
Broadband Expansion: The Barriers
Despite booming expansion rates in internet access in developing countries over the recent years, competing and staying abreast with the levels of internet penetration similar to the developed economies remains an arduous goal for these countries.
Just like the extension of the mobile telecommunications sector, many obstacles persist in boosting internet access. Restrained affordability and service availability, particularly in rural areas, are the biggest reasons for this which limit the expansion of Internet access in developing regions while public policies that result in restrictive laws further discourage investment.
Affordability is the chief barrier to expedited internet expansion and it is estimated that mobile broadband is unaffordable for approximately 3 billion people globally. Low-income levels, usually worsened by greater income inequalities, and a high cost of ownership dramatically raise the cumulative cost of internet access. This is intensified by sector-centric taxes that consider the Internet as a luxury good. There are three potential ways of expediting access by decreasing the price of an internet connection: making more affordable devices accessible, cutting down usage costs, and diminishing sector-centric taxation.
Primarily, limits to internet access differ big time within developing regions and the costs are rendered much higher for the poorest and for those in rural and remote localities. In densely populated urban regions, mobile broadband is usually available. Nevertheless, only those with greater income levels are anticipated to be able to afford it. In rural sections, the combination of high network deployment expenses and weaker income levels frequently result in a lack of internet access, further increasing the urban-rural digital divide.
Summarizing Remarks
The levels of the current service affordability and accessibility must advance substantially to deliver universal internet access. Unless the existent boundaries to internet access are cut down, the economic and social privileges discussed above shall remain highly unachieved. The Subscription economy that is blooming today will be a great fit to enhance individual internet affordability and offers an immense opportunity for small to medium-sized broadband players to capitalize on the existing rural internet accessibility lacunae.
