*By Leonardo Melo Lins
According to the latest version of ICT Household survey, launched in May, there are around 149 million Internet users in Brazil. According to the survey data, in 2015, 58% of Brazilians used the internet, a proportion that was 81% in 2022. Without a doubt, the country has advanced a lot in terms of digital inclusion, but some gaps still persist.
One of the indicators that draw the most attention is that of people who only use the internet on their cell phones. According to the survey, around 92 million Brazilians accessed the network exclusively via cell phones, which represents 62% of Internet users. It is interesting to analyze the social and economic characteristics of these users: there is a predominance of exclusive use of cell phones among those who are in rural areas, with schooling up to elementary school, over 60 years old and from classes DE. Everything indicates that the exclusive use of cell phones to access the Internet is a result of the social inequalities traditionally present in the country.
Graph 1 – Individuals who used the Internet only via cell phone
It is evident that any connectivity is better than none and with the cell phone it is possible to carry out various activities. However, exclusive access via cell phone often implies a connection based on data packets, which does not provide a complete online experience, preventing the use of the most diverse applications that are present in our daily lives. In this sense, the discussion around the guarantee of a “meaningful connectivity”, defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as “a level of connectivity that allows users to have a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost”. It is important to point out that the ITU, which is a UN agency, places achieving a high level of significant connectivity around the world as one of the goals of the 2030 Agenda.
At this point, it is important to evaluate the connectivity of Brazilian households, since that is where broadband connections are most installed. An interesting point presented by the ICT Households survey is the presence of ICT equipment in homes: only 16% of Brazilian households have a desktop computer and 28% have a notebook. In turn, 93% of households have cell phones. It is worth mentioning that for the development of skills related to the digital economy, say, programming, it is more feasible to learn via a desktop or notebook computer, as well as a stable and quality internet connection. As in the graph above, we observe important differences in relation to region and class: lesser presence of computer or notebook in households in rural areas and classes C and DE. In turn, the cell phone is the most easily accessible device, with a massive presence in all strata worked on here.
Graph 2 – Households that have ICT equipment
On June 2nd, a decree was published by President Lula, who created an inter-ministerial working group, coordinated by the Ministry of Communications and the Civil House, to prepare a flat national digital inclusion. The data discussed above show characteristics of connectivity in Brazil that can be taken into account by the working group: people who only have access to the Internet via cell phone, as well as the low presence of desktop or notebook computers in Brazilian households. If, on the one hand, it is undeniable that there have been important advances in recent years in digital inclusion, it is currently important to look at the quality of connections, given the greater need for bandwidth for the most diverse activities, such as telework or telemedicine.
Data from the new version of the ICT Households survey clearly outline the challenges for a digital inclusion policy when establishing the socioeconomic aspects of connectivity in the country. As noted in the graphs above, access to the Internet by individuals from classes D and E presents difficulties in terms of devices used, which can limit the acquisition of basic skills for the digital economy, as well as offering a precarious online experience. Therefore, a digital inclusion policy must go beyond access, and currently it is more important to guarantee its quality.
*Leonardo Melo Lins is an ABES Think Tank Researcher, member of the IEA/USP Postdoctoral Program and Cetic.br Analyst | NIC.br
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