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Deployment of networking technology in developing

countries

Prepared in response to SCC.360, Computer Science Seminars,


as if delivered to the Commons Select Committee on International Development

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NAME

Spring 2018

• As of December 2017, 51.8% of the world’s population has internet


access. However - of those that don’t - the vast majority live in less
developed nations.

• Good telecommunications networks, including mobile networks, has


been linked to increases in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which
can be linked to promoting development and bringing people out of
poverty

• UK ODA (Overseas Development Aid) could be better spent bring-


ing access to clean water and improved sanitation to the 20% of the
world’s population currently without access

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EMAIL

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1 Introduction
A submission of written evidence to the Commons Select Committee on International Development
in relation to the inquiry entitled

”Should the UK government direct aid money towards facilitating the provision of networking
technologies in developing countries, and how might this best be achieved?”

This report will consider the question in relation to current efforts and policies, with a particular
focus on Africa as an area with a large number of developing nations and a high potential for
internet growth, but also a large population of those suffering from abject poverty.

NAME is a student at UNIVERSITY , with a keen interest in the use of key technolo-
gies in development, as well as the ways in which technology can help us to understand the natural
world and its impact on humanity.

2 Background
2.1 History
Although under development since the 1960s, the internet became widely commercially available at
the end of the 1980s, and by the end of the millennia approximately 7% of the world’s population
had access to the internet[12]. It has arguably had the largest impact on the world since the
discovery of electricity, affecting every aspect of human life, from commerce and trade to interaction
and media. Perhaps unsurprisingly the vast majority of these internet users live in developed
nations such as the UK and the USA.
Today that number has risen to around 55%[13], however, there is a dramatic gulf between
the percentage of internet users in developed countries, and those in developing nations[18]. Ad-
ditionally, there is further disparity between those living in urban areas and those living in rural
areas.[5]. It should however be pointed out that utilising the proportion of households with inter-
net as a statistic is not necessarily representative, as discussed by Guerriero, who outlines a 2010
survey (n. 8,000) of internet users in 4 African countries that shows that ”among the Internet
users only 18.6% are found to access Internet most frequently at home, the other respondents are
connected mainly at work (16.7%), in Internet cafes (31.7%) and via mobile phone or other devices
(7.1%).”[9] This allows for the formation of an important distinction in terms of internet provision
to those in developing countries and will be discussed in the following section.

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2.2 Universal Service vs Universal Access
As described by Gasmi and Virto[7], universal service, in terms internet access, is the concept
that every resident in a country should have access to affordable service.[15]. This is currently
the case in the UK, and many developing countries around the world, where in December 2017
the government made plans to introduce as Universal Service Obligation (USO) for Broadband.
This would require, by 2020, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to guarantee a download connection
speed of 10Mbps to customers currently unable to receive such speeds, if they should request it.[11]
There is, of course, a proposed maximum spend per property for this proposal, however, it will
still be a major step forward in terms of the provisioning of internet access.
This, however, is not feasible in developing countries at the current time. Although successful
efforts have been made to put in place a fibre backbone around the world that reaches developing
nations in terms of the submarine cables that connect countries and continents; the cost of pro-
viding high-speed internet access to every home in every country around the world simply isn’t
feasible, or arguably even necessary at the current time.
What we can consider instead is the concept of universal access, whereby we specify a minimum
level of geographical access that a user may have to a specific service. This may be the provision
of telephony and internet services to within 50km of a community or regulating that every village
should have access to a communications system such as a community ran phone box. How these
services are defined is usually done by the government or regulator of each country, so there
are many variations. Whilst obviously not comparable to service levels in developed nations, it
can in some respects promote internet use in ways that widespread household service provision
cannot, namely that as well as cost (discussed later), one of the many barriers to widespread
internet adoption is digital literacy. In regards to this, a central location such as an internet
cafe or telecentre can provide cheap access to computers and the internet, whilst also providing
support in the form of staff members to assist those who have little to no experience with these
technologies[5][6].

3 Benefits
3.1 Economic
Good infrastructure, including internet and telephone lines, have been linked to an increase in a
country’s ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)[17][14]. Whilst FDI can have negative
as well as positive effects on the host economy (i.e. the economy of the country that the multi-
national company invests in), it is generally accepted that FDI into a country has real benefits to
economic growth[10]. A growing economy is one of the most powerful ways of bringing people out
of poverty[4], and can have additional benefits in terms of providing formal employment, shown

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to be another key factor in bringing people out of poverty[17].

4 Use of Resources
4.1 Millennium Development Goals
4.1.1 No one left behind
• Link to the DFID work on education and how they are ensuring that no young people are
denied an education

• Lack of IT education is listed in the Broadband Commissions report as one of the key factors
holding back internet access

4.2 Work already done


Much work and investment has already been done around the world by a variety of nations,
including the UK, the USA and China. Of particular note is the work done by U.S. Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), who have a finance portfolio worth over $1bn for ICT
projects worldwide[8] and in the UK, work has been done in a variety of areas in the field of
ICT for development (ICT4D). China, however, has taken infrastructure investment in Africa to a
whole new scale. Whilst some have questioned their goals and motivations, in 2014 China invested
billions of dollars into projects all across Africa, as US comparative spending continued to drop[16]
[1].
We must also consider the effectiveness and value for money of spending UK ODA in this area,
keeping in mind the DfID priority of delivering value for money [2]. Whilst, as we have discussed,
economic growth is a key factor in bringing the world’s poorest people out of poverty, and there
have been several links drawn between a strong internet infrastructure and economic development
internet access will not help those most in need. In Somalia, for example, where 10% of the
population are Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) (those that have fled their homes but remain
within their country), and 80% live below the poverty line[3] internet provision is not something
that needs to be prioritised at the current time.
The majority of the world now has access to clean water and improved sanitation, however
20% still does not, of which 90% are living in rural areas of the Least Developed Countries in the
world, in aiming to meet the Millennium Development Goals it would be better to help them gain
access to clean water and sanitation than an internet connection.

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5 Key Recommendations
As with many of the projects that the DFiD leads and facilitates around the world, effective
internet provision is very much not a short-term target. In continuing to meet, and exceed, the
UN target of spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA the UK must prioritise the stated aims of British
ODA, namely to:

• Strengthening global peace, security and governance

• Strengthening resilience and response to crisis

• Promoting global prosperity

• Tackling extreme poverty and helping the worlds most vulnerable

• Delivering value for money

In this respect it would appear foolish to spend UK taxpayer money on funding new internet
provision projects, when millions around the world are still living in abject poverty, living without
access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation. Instead, the UK government should:

• Contribute to UN and EU, as well as other multilateral agencies, aid programs to improve
access to the internet, rather than using ODA

• Continue to focus on bringing the world’s poorest people out of severe poverty, ensuring they
have access to clean water and sanitation, as well as adequate food.

• Use British skills and knowledge to support local partners on policy decisions where needed

6 Conclusion
The DFID must continue to prioritise helping those most in need. Whilst access to the internet
can bring many benefits to people in developing countries - and act as a key tool to development
- to those most in need around the world it cannot provide them with a roof over their heads, it
cannot provide them with clean, safe drinking water, and it cannot protect those that are most
vulnerable.

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