More than 32 million Brazilian households have no internet access

The price charged for the service is major barrier

Published on 13/09/2016 - 18:03 By Daniel Mello reports from Agência Brasil - São Paulo

A tecnologia que conecta pessoas por meio da internet e suas redes sociais pode causar dor de cabeça aos pais, professores e pedagogos

The price is still the major barrier to internet access, according to the 11th edition of the ICT Households survey released today (Sep. 13).Arquivo/Agência Brasil

The price is still the major barrier to internet access, according to the 11th edition of the ICT Households survey released today (Sep. 13). The value of the service was appointed as an obstacle by residents of 60% of the 32.8 million households that have no internet access. Among households with no use of internet, 30 million are consumers from C, D, and E socio-economic classes.

The survey was conducted by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (CETIC.br), and the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br). Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 23,465 households across the country from November 2015 to June 2016.

From the last survey, carried out in 2014, to the current one, there was a variation of only 1 percentage point in the number of households with internet access. In 2014, there were 50% of households and now, 51%, totaling 34.1 million households.

According to the CETIC.br manager, Alexandre Barbosa, the barrier of costs is one of the reasons for no significant progress in numbers from 2014 to 2015 (current base).

"In A and B socio-economic classes, we can say that we reached the same rates of European countries," added Barbosa. In households of A class, the access rate is 97%, and in B class, 82%, while in C class, the rate is 49%, and in D and E classes, 16%.

Barbosa also said that another problem is that there is no availability of service in some rural areas and areas in the north. "Unless we use a satellite connection, in many areas of the country there is no [internet] operator," he pointed out.

To find a way around these problems, Barbosa advocates stronger market regulation as a way to reduce prices, and an examination on taxes levied on the service. "In Brazil, we carry a heavy tax burden for paid access," he noted.


Translated by Amarílis Anchieta


Fonte: More than 32 million Brazilian households have no internet access

Edition: Juliana Andrade / Nira Foster

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