Broadband Affordability and Access Inequality
Building on the expertise gained in the mobile affordability study, DIRSI seeks to extend this methodology to analyze the affordability of broadband services across the region. The availability of broadband services at affordable prices is a key development input, yet there are virtually no studies that track its affordability in Latin America (in fact there are few in other developing regions).
This represents a natural extension of DIRSI’s affordability studies to other services that are increasingly vital to regional economic and social development, and thus to the poor’s livelihoods. There are also obvious economies of scope in developing and providing the regulatory community with software tools and databases that track the affordability of several ICT services at once.
The data will be gathered using the methodology of baskets of services developed by the OECD. This allows the standardization of different payment plans and tariffs offered by the carriers in the countries under study. This methodology, with minor modifications that reflect the various business models in use in the Latin American region, provides a robust comparison of tariffs at the international level.
In addition to extending the affordability studies portfolio, this research area seeks to develop new indicators for pro-poor ICT access. In particular, new indicators are clearly needed to measure ICT access inequalities within countries (as opposed to among countries, which is what most digital divide indicators measure).
DIRSI’s previous work on the concept of digital poverty, in combination with well-established indicators for wealth distribution, provides a strong basis for developing indicators that better capture existing ICT access and use disparities within countries, an area about which there is a lack of information, due in part to data availability constraints.
We will undertake to develop and test new indicators that go beyond traditional supply-side aggregate statistics, in particular through our partnership with OSILAC whose wealth of household data represents a largely untapped resource for developing new digital poverty and inequality indicators.
Expected Outputs
- A broadband affordability report covering the entire region.
- National affordability reports (selected cases)
- Extending the affordability software tool and database to include broadband services
Expected policy impact
The results of this project will help advance the debate about how to increase broadband penetration and access in the region by
- quantifying the affordability of broadband services across the region;
- identifying the key economic and policy variables affecting broadband prices; and
- providing evidence and tools for stakeholders involved in national and regional debates.
Execution period:
Lead researchers:
Hernan Galperin and Roxana Barrantes
Bellow you will find information about the development of this project, as available.
