New Delhi: A new research by Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm Surfshark has found that people from lower-income countries have to work three times more than higher-income nations due to three-times slower internet speed.
Such is the situation in many of these low-income nations, notes the study, that even video calls are not possible.
The research, which is based on the annual digital wellbeing index (DQL 2022), also revealed that Africa “experiences the sharpest internet divide”, with only 55 per cent of the population having access to the internet, against 85 per cent in Oceania.
Among African nations, Ethiopia and Mali pay the most for the worst internet connection.
The study goes on to say that “internet inequality, combined with today’s inflation rates and political uncertainties is taking people from lower-income countries on a downward spiral of economic hardship”.
“People who can’t access the internet are cut off from the digital opportunities that people from higher-income countries have. Without internet access, people can’t study or work online, and they can’t grow their economy with digital exports,” said Surfshark’s Lead Researcher Agneska Sablovskaja.
Mobile & broadband internet divide
The research also notes that populations in lower-income countries work at least 11 minutes more than higher-income nations due to slower mobile internet speed.
The average mobile internet speed in lower-income countries is three times slower than in higher-income countries and creates limitations in what people can do online. While 26 Mbps — which is the average mobile internet speed in low income countries — may be enough for streaming a movie, it’s not enough for a video call (which requires 50 Mbps).
When it comes to broadband internet, the study notes, people in lower-income countries work eight hours more than higher-income nations to afford a fixed broadband plan that is 83 Mbps slower.
In higher-income countries, broadband internet tends to be much faster than mobile internet speed, the study says. Broadband internet speed in lower-income countries is just 34 Mbps on average — barely any faster than mobile internet speed.
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Source: The Print
