Alliance for Affordable Internet formed

Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) has been launched in a bid to reduce the price of broadband services in developing countries. The United Nations Broadband Commission targets price of below 5% of monthly income worldwide and this is one of the ways of achieving that.

There is about two-thirds of the world population who are yet to get online and the price of broadband services in some developing countries is not affordable for the average citizens.

Img: Techloy

This alliance was formed and its plans were revealed at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization’s Annual Forum in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

The alliance was initiated by the World Wide Web Foundation and the chairperson is the former Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr. Bitange Ndemo.

The alliance is set to take off with three to four countries by the end of 2013 and extend to 12 countries by the end of 2015. The A4AI will also produce an annual ‘Affordability Report’, with the first edition set to be in December, 2013.

“In Kenya, we saw the number of internet users more than double in a single year after we liberalized market. Now we need to spark the same revolution on broadband costs and access, not only in my country but around the world. To achieve this, we will use our combined voices, leadership and expertise to press for fair, competitive and socially responsible markets.” Dr. Ndemo revealed.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web and founder of the World Wide Web Foundation also commented on the new development.

“The reason for the alliance is simple – the majority of the world’s people are still not online, usually because they can’t afford to be. In Mozambique, for example, a recent study showed that using just 1GB of data can cost well over two months wages for the average citizens.

“The result of high prices is a widening digital divide that slows progress in vital areas such as health, education and science. Yet with the advent of affordable smartphones, new undersea cables and innovations in wireless spectrum usage, there is simply no good reason for the digital divide to continue. The real bottleneck now is anti-competitive policies and regulations that keep prices unaffordable. The alliance is about removing that barrier and helping as many as possible get online at reasonable cost.” he said.

Global sponsors of the alliance include Google, Omidyar Network, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK Department for International Development.

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