Half of Brazilians Are Still Off-Line

11/25/2013 - 08h26

The Brazilian federal government's PNBL (National Broadband Program) calls for half of Brazil's cities to have internet connections of 1 Mbps offered at US$ 15 by the end of 2014.

"We know that isn't enough for today's standards: the investments with the highest social-economic potential, such as attending classes, are linked to higher speed," says Pedro Lucas da Cruz Araújo, the broadband manager of the Ministry of Communication.

The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) says that connections over 1.5 Mbps are broadband.

But speed isn't the biggest problem.

IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) data of 2012 show that 86 million Brazilians over the age of 10 live without Google, Facebook or Wikipedia - 49.1% of the 169 million Brazilians in that age group.

They are poor people, "digital illiterates" or those who live in remote areas. "Digital exclusion follows the same logic as social exclusion," says the Ministry of Communication's social inclusion secretary, Lygia Pupatto. "We have a greater deficit in the C, D and E social classes, and the North and Northeast regions have the highest need."

Growth has been faster in those groups, says Adriana Beringuy, a researcher at the IBGE. "People over 60 also have had greater access to the internet."

In 2011, 46.7% of Brazilians were on-line, which means that more than half of the country can be connected. The ITU says 95% of Norwegians, 81% of Americans, 56% of Argentineans and 42% of the Chinese are online.

Of the 5,564 cities existing when the PNBL was created (there are six more today) in 2011, 3,214 were connected.

I DON'T WANT IT

But not everyone is not connected to the internet because they can't afford it. "I hate the internet, mobiles, those things," says driver Jorge Feitosa, 59. "You can be robbed, you're too exposed. I'm not scared, but it's not my profile. I'd rather use a pay phone," he says. He also says that he bought his son a computer, although he himself is against it.

Housewife Cristiane Gradinar, 38, says she has already looked for a job online, but has no interest in getting connected again. "I am an Evangelical, so that's another reason why I don't use it," she says. Her church doesn't forbid the use of the internet, "but there are many things online that are not permitted to us," she says.

I CAN'T

Housewife Maria Lúcia Mendonça, 65, says she has already tried to use a computer, but couldn't -- when she needs it, she asks her daughter for help. "It takes a long time just to write my name. I have no patience," she says, adding that she's afraid of losing money when she is online, as the internet is unsafe.

Real estate agent Eduardo Fernandes, 56, needs to send emails to his clients, but there's no cable connection where he lives - a cabin on the border of São Paulo and Itapecerica da Serra - so he resorts to internet cafes. "I also use Poupatempo, but it's very slow," he says.

BEYOND INCLUSION

The Ministry of Communication believes the biggest problem still is infrastructure, as there are many areas that aren't economically interesting to internet operators - and the decision to provide access is theirs.

But the huge task of universalizing access is only the first step. "I think that knowing how to use the internet is one thing," says Pupatto. "Something completely different, and that is our challenge, is taking it in, opening possibilities that can really change your life, such as long-distance education and cultural projects."

Alexandre Fernandes Barbosa, one of the coordinators of the CGI (Internet Management Committee), says "it's not enough for a poor citizen to use an internet cafe to access Facebook if that's all he can do. Developing skills is crucial."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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