NIC.br Study Presents Diagnosis on Internet Access in Brazilian Municipalities with Up to 20,000 Inhabitants

Report jointly prepared with the British Embassy in Brazil and Anatel provides data for digital inclusion policies and highlights the role of small providers

How do the socioeconomic context and the capacity of providers and local governments impact connectivity in small municipalities? This question was the guiding thread of the publication “Frontiers of Digital Inclusion: Social Dynamics and Public Policies of Internet Access in Small Brazilian Municipalities”, produced and coordinated by the Center for Regional Studies for the Development of the Information Society of the Brazilian Network Information Center (Cetic.br|NIC.br), in partnership with the Digital Access Programme of the British Embassy in Brazil and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). Released this Tuesday (14th), the report presents a diagnosis of the adoption of the Internet in Brazilian municipalities with up to 20,000 inhabitants, based on data collected by the surveys of Cetic.br and data provided by Anatel. It also presents a qualitative mapping from in-depth interviews and discussion groups conducted in the five regions of the country.

“In the last decade, there has been significant growth in Internet access nationwide, driven by the expansion of fiber optic connections, but this happened unevenly. Municipalities with up to 20,000 people, which concentrate 31.6 million inhabitants, have a lower percentage of Internet users than that observed in large urban centers. The survey proposal was to investigate, from different dimensions, what challenges are faced to expand connectivity in these cities,” explains Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br|NIC.br.

In the quantitative stage, researchers selected 485 municipalities, which were divided into four groups based on connectivity indicators (accesses) and local capacities (attributes related to the quality and security of services offered by providers and online public services and digital inclusion policies implemented by municipalities). The objective was to understand what influenced the different levels of connectivity in the municipalities and to ascertain how much the capabilities of the providers and local governments could explain these differences.

In the qualitative stage, interviews were conducted with municipal and provider managers and local leaders, and discussion groups were held with residents in 20 cities in the five Brazilian regions. The data analysis was based on the following dimensions: capabilities of providers and local governments, quality and security of services offered by providers, digital inclusion policies, technology use by the population, and connectivity barriers.

Based on the study, it was found that there has been a recent expansion of fiber optics in these municipalities, associated with the efforts of small-scale providers that are present there. There has also been a replacement of some types of connections, such as radio, with fiber optics, which was considered essential to expand the use of ICTs by the population and to ensure greater diversification of online activities. Among organizations, the expansion of connectivity allowed for more intensive adoption and use of computerized administrative systems and software, the provision of digital public services, and advances in the transparency of their data among municipalities.

On the other hand, the survey found that there are still significant barriers to connectivity in rural, remote, and hard-to-reach areas due to the cost of expanding fiber optics, lack of electricity, and installing and maintaining towers for radio connection. There are also geographical characteristics that, according to the report's data, make it difficult to reach the signal or disrupt its stability. Interviewees also highlight financial cost barriers to contracting higher-speed plans, which particularly affect the most vulnerable; lack of digital skills, especially among certain groups in rural areas and the elderly; and a lack of adequate access devices.

Digital Inclusion
Among the evidence presented by the report is the reduced presence of information technology departments among municipalities. Although online public services have been expanded, most interactions between municipal administration and citizens have been informational. One of the main findings of the document was the relative absence of local public policies aimed at addressing inequalities in access and the use of technologies in small municipalities.

Regarding the role of providers in these cities, there was significant variation between the investigated localities regarding organizational and administrative aspects. According to the study, the degree of provider professionalism directly impacts the quality of services offered and the levels of connectivity of the municipalities. “In the absence of more institutionalized digital inclusion policies, the capabilities of provider companies make a big difference in the service they offer and help explain the differences in connectivity between the municipalities,” Barbosa adds.

For the director-president of NIC.br, Demi Getschko, it is hoped that the study will promote reflections and raise new points for debate on connectivity in the country and help support public policies that seek to promote more equitable access and the expansion and improvement of connectivity throughout the Brazilian territory. "For this, partnerships like this one, with Anatel and the British Embassy, help diagnose what has already been done and what needs improvement. These are relevant initiatives".

“We are very pleased to support the connectivity agenda in Brazil. Considering that each year, internet access is expanded in the country and in various nations around the world, we want to continue working to find solutions to the challenges posed by this growth. This study will be a transformative instrument for digital inclusion for this and future Brazilian generations, guiding the formulation of public policies in this area,” points out Melanie Hopkins, in charge of business at the British Embassy in Brazil.

“Understanding the reasons that lead residents of small Brazilian municipalities to connect or not to broadband in places where infrastructure is already available, is fundamental to promoting universal access and, consequently, for the full exercise of citizenship,” says Carlos Manuel Baigorri, President of Anatel.

The study “Frontiers of Digital Inclusion: Social Dynamics and Public Policies of Internet Access in Small Brazilian Municipalities” is available for free download at: https://cetic.br/pt/publicacao/fronteiras-da-inclusao-digital/.

About the Brazilian Network Information Center – NIC.br
The Brazilian Network Information Center — NIC.br (https://nic.br/) is a private, non-profit civil entity responsible for operating the .br domain, as well as distributing IP numbers and registering Autonomous Systems in the country. Since 2005, NIC.br has implemented the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), and all the resources collected come from its activities, which are inherently private. It conducts actions and projects that bring benefits to the Internet infrastructure in Brazil. NIC.br includes: Registro.br (https://registro.br), CERT.br (https://cert.br/), Ceptro.br (https://ceptro.br/), Cetic.br (https://cetic.br/), IX.br (https://ix.br/) and Ceweb.br (https://ceweb.br), as well as projects like Internetsegura.br (https://internetsegura.br) and the Best Practices Portal for the Internet in Brazil (https://bcp.nic.br/). It also hosts the W3C Chapter São Paulo office (https://w3c.br/). 

About the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br
The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinates and integrates all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and dissemination of offered services. Based on the principles of multistakeholderism and transparency, CGI.br represents a worldwide-praised democratic internet governance model, where all sectors of society equally participate in its decisions. One of its formulations is the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://cgi.br/resolucoes/documento/2009/003). More information at https://cgi.br/. 

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