Transitional government will propose ‘internet grant’ to make broadband access cheaper

The transitional government will propose to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) the creation of an ‘internet exchange’, which will reduce the price of broadband connection for low-income Brazilians enrolled in CadÚnico (Cadastro Único of the federal government) . The proposal stemmed from a request by Lula, who would have asked the Communication working group for a program along the lines of “Light for All” to universalize internet access.

“President Lula asked for a Light for All for the internet and, after the work group’s diagnosis, we came to the conclusion that the priority is to make broadband access cheaper, since many people are not connected because of the price”, said Paulo Bernardo, coordinator of the Communication working group and former Minister of Communications and Planning.

The Luz para Todos program, implemented in 2004 during the Lula government, aimed to expand infrastructure to connect families that still did not have access to energy to the electricity grid.

According to Bernardo, the ‘internet grant’ would provide for a kind of social tariff for broadband connection for low-income families enrolled in the Single Registry for social programs of the federal government. In the case of the existing social electricity tariff, people receive a discount of up to 65% on the monthly electricity bill. There would also be incentives to expand fiber optic coverage in the country, but the priority would be to reduce the price for the poorest families.

To make broadband packages cheaper, one of the ideas is to exempt services, since taxes reach 40% of the total price charged, or to offer bonuses together with the Bolsa Família payment. The working group should discuss the proposal with technicians from the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) this week. The plan is part of the diagnosis that the group will deliver to Lula this Sunday (11).

According to a 2021 Cetic.br survey, 82% of households in Brazil have internet access. However, only 61% of those use cable or fiber optics as the main type of network connection. Among people who have access to the internet, 64% only access the network via cell phone, with a connection that is often precarious, limited by plans with data allowances.

For Helena Martins, one of the WG coordinators, the plan’s objective is not only to expand internet access, but also to reduce digital inequality. Although the portion of the population connected has increased in recent years, only 20% have quality internet access, according to a survey by Idec and the Locomotiva Institute in November 2021. Most depend on limited plans and subject to blockages, low speeds, unstable services, poor signal quality. “If we look at the cold data, around 80% of people already connect to the internet; but, in fact, we know that the majority do not have significant access”, says Martins, who is a professor at the Federal University of Ceará.

According to Idec and Instituto Locomotiva, 90% of internet users in classes C, D and E claim to access the internet via 3G/4G, the vast majority using the cheapest plans offered by operators —58% have prepaid plans. paid and 29% have a control plan, which have limited data usage packages and block usage or charge more when the limit is exceeded.

In addition to the ‘internet grant’, the WG’s program for universal access to the internet includes investment in infrastructure to connect rural areas and remote areas with broadband and satellite, expansion of access in schools and collaboration with small broadband providers.

In the background is the idea of ​​discussing with the operators changes in the cheapest packages, which offer zero rating for the use of WhatsApp, Facebook and others, but limited and expensive data packages for all the rest of the access. One idea would be to emulate Chile, with a reduction in data prices or establishing a minimum volume of data in packages. But, as it is a delicate negotiation, it will be left for later.

Plans to universalize internet access have been implemented since 2010, when the Lula government launched the PNBL (National Broadband Program). During the Dilma Rousseff government, then Minister Paulo Bernardo launched a continuation of the PNBL, with actions to increase the number of municipalities with fiber optic infrastructure and to raise the average broadband speed in the country.

In 2017, then President Michel Temer (MDB) launched a satellite to provide broadband to municipalities without access.

Universalization plans helped to increase the number of municipalities with broadband access, but coverage is still far from global parameters, and speeds, too.

Internet access in Brazil

• 82% of households in Brazil have access to the internet (by cell phone or broadband)
• Among households with a family income of up to one minimum wage, they are only 69% (this includes broadband and cell phone access, whose connection is often precarious, limited by data allowances)
• 62% of households without internet access say they do not have the service because it is too expensive
• Of the citizens of classes D and E already connected, 90% use the internet only by cell phone and with limited packages
• In the Southeast, 95% of households have access to broadband
• In the Northeast, they are 83%

Sources: CGI.br/NIC.br, Cetic.br, TIC Household Survey 202