Alliance for Affordable Internet

Last updated
Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)
TypeCommunications
IndustryCommunication Industry
Area served
Communication and Internet Services
Key people
Sonia Jorge (Executive Director), Kojo Boakye (Policy Manager)
Website a4ai.org

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) is an initiative to make the Internet more affordable to people around the world. The World Wide Web Foundation serves as the Secretariat, and major members of coalition include Google, the Omidyar Network, the Department for International Development, USAID, Facebook, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, UN Women and many others from the public, private and civil society sectors. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Purpose

A4AI was created with the goal of obtaining global broadband internet access priced at less than 5% of average per capita income globally; the target of the UN Broadband Commission. It cites the lack of investment in infrastructure, competition in the market, and inefficient taxation, amongst other policy and regulatory obstacles, as being major constraints to reducing prices.

It claims the internet as being an essential source of information and services for all and advocates an open, competitive broadband and telecommunications market, regulated by an independent agency. Particular attention is paid to internet freedom and the rights of online expression. [3]

It works closely with governments and local stakeholders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America on policy and regulatory reform through a combination of advocacy, research and knowledge-sharing activities. [1]

Launch

The initiative was officially launched on October 7, 2013, at the "Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Forum" in Abuja, Nigeria. [4] The launch was covered by many news sources. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Reception

A4AI was briefly discussed in relation to Internet.org, a Facebook-led initiative for Internet accessibility, by David Talbot in an article for Technology Review . [9]

1 for 2 target

The A4AI has also coined the term "affordability threshold" in its "1 for 2 target". It considers the affordability threshold to be at 1GB of mobile broadband data priced at 2% or less of average monthly income. [10] [11] The UN Broadband Commission has adopted the “1 for 2” target as the new standard for affordable internet. [12]

Criticism

Michael Gurstein wrote a critical article about A4AI in which he raised concern that the organisation was more about encouraging Less Developed Countries (LDCs) to adopt neoliberal policies than actually getting "affordable access". Quoting their documentation, he says that they advocate a set of "guiding principles" for adoption as policy and regulatory practice by the LDCs. These, he argues, all rest on neoliberal assumptions, rather than allowing them to be tested alongside other ways of looking at things. Whilst these guidelines include an evidence based approach, Gurstein argues that if all the research is carried out on neoliberal assumptions the results will be highly pre-determined by the input principles. He raises concern that this approach will allow for private companies to exploit making developments in the more readily reliable markets of the urban environment, while extending such services to less viable rural markets will be left to inadequately funded public initiatives. He further points to the championing of the use of Universal Service Fund facilities (a structure promoted by the World Bank), which often attract million or even billion dollar budgets but where control is retained by private service providers and which often do not match local needs. This leads to his claim that a major priority for A4AI is that LDC governments adopt neoliberal policies as outlined in their guiding principles. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in Rwanda include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Telecommunications in Sudan includes fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, radio, and television. Approximately 12 million out of 45 million people in Sudan use the Internet, mainly on smartphones and mobile computers.

The digital divide is a gap between those who have access to digital technology and those who do not. These technologies include, but are not limited to, smart phones, computers, and the internet. In the Information Age in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) have eclipsed manufacturing technologies as the basis for world economies and social connectivity, people without access to the Internet and other ICTs are at a socio-economic disadvantage because they are unable or less able to find and apply for jobs, shop and sell online, participate democratically, or research and learn.

Least developed countries Countries that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development

The least developed countries (LDCs) are a list of developing countries that, according to the United Nations, exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings of all countries in the world. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed by the UN in its resolution 2768 (XXVI) on 18 November 1971.

Millennium Development Goals Eight international development goals for the year 2015 by the United Nations

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These were based on the OECD DAC International Development Goals agreed by Development Ministers in the "Shaping the 21st Century Strategy". The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) succeeded the MDGs in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Net neutrality</span> Principle that Internet service providers should treat all data equally

Network neutrality, most commonly called net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, and not charge users different rates based on content, website, platform, application, type of equipment, source address, destination address, or method of communication.

The digital economy is a portmanteau of digital computing and economy, and is an umbrella term that describes how traditional brick-and-mortar economic activities are being transformed by Internet, World Wide Web, and blockchain technologies. The digital economy is variously known as the Internet Economy, Web Economy, Cryptoeconomy, and New Economy. Since the digital economy is continuously replacing and expanding the traditional economy, there is no clear delineation between the two integrated economy types. The digital economy results from billions of daily online transactions among people, organizations, and distributed computing devices enabled by Internet, World Wide Web, and blockchain technologies. The digital economy is rapidly evolving into an Internet of Things (IoT), and could not exist in its current form without the Internet.

Internet access is widely available in New Zealand, with 94% of New Zealanders having access to the internet as of January 2021. It first became accessible to university students in the country in 1989. As of June 2018, there are 1,867,000 broadband connections, of which 1,524,000 are residential and 361,000 are business or government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in the United States</span> Overview of the Internet in the United States of America

The Internet in the United States grew out of the ARPANET, a network sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense during the 1960s. The Internet in the United States in turn provided the foundation for the worldwide Internet of today.

Like many developed and developing countries, the Internet in Bangladesh has witnessed significant growth. Although facing many constraints in expanding Internet access and use, development of the Internet and Information Technology are high government priorities. In March, 2021 Internet users in Bangladesh increased to 116 million. On 19 February 2018, Bangladesh started the 4G network service.

National broadband plan

Broadband is a term normally considered to be synonymous with a high-speed connection to the internet. Suitability for certain applications, or technically a certain quality of service, is often assumed. For instance, low round trip delay would normally be assumed to be well under 150ms and suitable for Voice over IP, online gaming, financial trading especially arbitrage, virtual private networks and other latency-sensitive applications. This would rule out satellite Internet as inherently high-latency. In some applications, utility-grade reliability or security are often also assumed or defined as requirements. There is no single definition of broadband and official plans may refer to any or none of these criteria.

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development was established in May 2010 as a joint initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote Internet access, in particular, broadband networks in order to help achieve United Nations development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals. The Commission was renamed the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, following the adoption of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015.

Multistakeholder governance is a practice of governance that employs bringing multiple stakeholders together to participate in dialogue, decision making, and implementation of responses to jointly perceived problems. The principle behind such a structure is that if enough input is provided by multiple types of actors involved in a question, the eventual consensual decision gains more legitimacy, and can be more effectively implemented than a traditional state-based response. While the evolution of multistakeholder governance is occurring principally at the international level, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are domestic analogues.

Internet.org is a partnership between social networking services company Meta Platforms and six companies that plans to bring affordable access to selected Internet services to less developed countries by increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models around the provision of Internet access. The app delivering these services was renamed Free Basics in September 2015. As of April 2018, 100 million people were using internet.org.

Facebook Zero Initiative by Facebook

Facebook Zero is an initiative undertaken by social networking service company Facebook in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges for accessing Facebook on phones via a stripped-down text-only version of its mobile website. The stripped-down version is available online only through providers who have entered the agreement with Facebook. Photos are not loaded by default. Users may still choose to view them by clicking through but regular data charges apply to photo use.

Google Free Zone was a global initiative undertaken by the Internet company Google in collaboration with mobile phone-based Internet providers, whereby the providers waive data (bandwidth) charges for accessing select Google products such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google+. In order to use this service, users were required to have a Google account and a phone that had access to an internet connection.

Zero-rating Internet access under certain conditions

Zero-rating is the practice of providing Internet access without financial cost under certain conditions, such as by permitting access to only certain websites or by subsidizing the service with advertising or by exempting certain websites from the data allowance.

Net neutrality law refers to laws and regulations which enforce the principle of net neutrality.

AdChoices is a self-regulatory program for online interest-based advertising that exists in the United States, Canada and across Europe. The program calls for advertising companies to establish and enforce responsible privacy practices for interest-based advertising, aimed to give consumers enhanced transparency and control. Companies adhere to a set of principles that are enforced by accountability programs.

African Summit on Women and Girls in Technology

The African Summit on Women and Girls in Technology is an international summit organized by the World Wide Web Foundation and the Alliance for Affordable Internet in collaboration with other international organizations and ministries. It is a gathering of digital equality advocates who are mostly women and the main focus of discussion is bridging the digital gender gap.

References

  1. 1 2 "Vision and Strategy". Alliance for Affordable Internet. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Members". Alliance for Affordable Internet. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ Spore. "Internet access for all: Interview with Sonia Jorge, Executive Director of A4AI" (PDF). CTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Joining forces to adPigeon JOY Unlimited 1.8DX 1.8 L Rice Cookerfthhhvocate for a more affordable Internet". Google.org. October 7, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (October 7, 2013). "Internet for all: Alliance for Affordable Internet founded". ZDNet . Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ Ferenstein, Gregory (October 7, 2013). "The Internet Costs 30% Of Monthly Wages In Some Nations. Google Wants To Help". TechCrunch . Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Alliance For Affordable Internet". Huffington Post. October 7, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Google, Facebook Back Effort to Make Internet Affordable for All". Mashable. October 7, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ Talbot, David (December 17, 2013). "Facebook's Two Faces". Technology Review . Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ Affordability report 2018
  11. ↑ Affordable internet is 1 for 2
  12. ↑ UN broadband commission adopts new target
  13. ↑ Gurstein, Michael. "A4AI: Who Could Oppose a More Affordable Internet? The Alliance for an Affordable Internet (A4AI) and the Neo-liberal Stealth Campaign to Control the Internet Throughout the Developing World and Make Big Bucks for the Private Sector While Doing So". Gurstein's Community Informatics. Michael Gurstein . Retrieved 21 March 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.