One could hardly imagine life nowadays without the Internet and advances like email, e-commerce, and information access it gives. Although the Internet is widespread all over the world, there are still some regions like rural Africa, which have weak or no Internet connectivity, caused by low bandwidth and high cost.
In relation to Europe and other developed countries, Africa stands in the lower position with regard to the Internet connection and use. For instance, distribution by world regions shows that Africa constitutes only 19 percent, while Americas – 65 percent, or Europe – 75 percent of the global Internet usage, reports the International Telecommunications Union (“Internet Users by Region”). However, trying to link networks in different locations, SkyVision company refused from terrestrial connectivity in order to improve the service because it lacks connectivity between submarine cables. Instead, they offer a groundbreaking satellite-based technology that allows reaching the high-speed data services and reliable broadband in the most distant locations. Moreover, “as a rapid solution to extend Internet services and network coverage, many companies are rapidly investing in developing the market” (Stanton 306).
The importance of being connected to the Internet is deeply felt in the banking area where people need an online secure payment system or secure delivery services. Today, “banks simply cannot provide connectivity to rural areas where lives 65 percent of the population” (Stair 304). SkyVision’s fiber-optic technology allows providing the Internet for 90 ATM sites in most rural regions. Despite undertaken efforts to improve Internet connectivity, “69 percent of the consumers were identified as non-users and the main reason for non-adoption relates to cost, unsafe transactions and unawareness of the benefits of the products and services offered through internet banking” (Sarlak 2011). The economic relations between Europe and Africa develop positively owing to reliable and secure data sharing system afforded by SkyVision. For example, Agro-Industrial Group needs to connect its African departments to each other. Among the other benefits corresponding to different fields are sufficient teleports, best Radio Frequency (RF) capability, and support for Multiple Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Backbone.
Another company taking initiative is Google that announced Project Link in 2013, which promotes possibility to connect more people to the Internet and each other for a better way with the help of fiber-optic networks. The headquarters of the Project is located in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, a densely populated city with low Internet connectivity. “It said it wants to help local businesses, schools, and others to make better use of the Internet” (Miners 4). The future of the Project Link seems to be successful to expand of high-speed fiber Internet in many areas over 1,000 kilometers of Africa including Greater Accra, Kumasi, and Tema.
Unfortunately, African governments impose high fees and taxes on technology placed on the ground. Besides, the second barrier is that policy makers do not cooperate liberalizing the policies to support private investments to expand infrastructure across rural Africa. The South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, however, has an ambitious plan of spending $97 billion “to leverage infrastructure as the foundation for economic and technological renewal over the next three years” (Juma 4).
In conclusion, it should be stressed that Africa is an increasingly developing area having a great potential to become Internet user nation with better service, lower prices, and economic benefits and overcome the digital divide.
Works Cited
“Internet Users by Region.” Internet Users. n.p. 2013. Web.
Juma, Calestous. “Poor Infrastructure Is Africa’s Soft Underbelly.” Forbes. 2012. Web.
Miners, Zach. “Google to Build Fiber Networks in Africa through Project Link.” IDG News Service. 2013. Web.
Sarlak, Mohammad Ali. E-banking and Emerging Multidisciplinary Processes Social, Economical and Organizational Models. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference, 2011. Print.
Stair, Ralph M., and George Walter Reynolds. Principles of Information Systems. 10th ed. Boston, Mass.: Course Technology, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Stanton, Andrea L. L., and Dr. Edward Ramsamy. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa an Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012. Print.