Internet access in rural households grew during the pandemic. The index rose from 51% of homes in 2019 to 71% in 2021. In cities, the increase was smaller, by 8 percentage points, from 75% to 83%, according to the ICT Households 2021 survey, released this Tuesday. fair (21) by Cetic.br.
Altogether, 82% of households access the internet in Brazil. In 2019, before the digitalization promoted by social isolation measures, the index was 71%. Despite this, digital inequality remains in Brazil.
In the countryside, fiber optic or cable connections —more stable and with higher speeds— are present in 39% of households, compared to 64% in cities.
“Even with the growth of 20 percentage points in the proportion of households with internet access in rural areas, there are still 29% of these households without access, against 17% in urban areas”, says Fabio Storino, coordinator of the survey.
Due to Covid-19, last year’s TIC DomicÃlios was carried out with an adapted methodology, with internet interviews. Therefore, the researchers recommend that the comparison base be 2019, for better visualization of the results.
For Storino, the significant growth in connectivity in rural areas during the pandemic occurred due to a confluence of supply and demand. While the health crisis required the connection to carry out various activities, there was also an effort by public and private actors to make this happen, he assesses.
“The ICT Providers 2020 survey, for example, already showed the expansion of the offer of optical fiber. In 2020, about 6,400 providers offer this technology; in 2017, there were 2,400”, explains Storino.
But the disparity is also evidenced by the way users access the internet. Dominant in all social classes, exclusive access by cell phone is a cause for concern. While 32% of class A users only use their mobile device to access the internet, the figure is 89% for class D/E.
“There is a growing body of evidence that points to a lower development of digital skills among those who use mobile exclusively compared to those who use the internet from multiple devices”, said the coordinator.
The quality of the user experience with the web is related to the device used because working with spreadsheets, writing texts and creating presentations on a computer is much more productive than on a smartphone.
While cell phones are the main form of access in all classes, computer use is restricted to 22% of the D/E class, compared to 93% of the A/B class. From 2019 to 2021, the presence of computers in households in classes B, C and D/E dropped.
In all, only 36% of users use a computer to access the internet, a rate surpassed even by television, which went from 37% in 2019 to 50% in 2021. In class A, 99% of households have a computer, while in class D/E the index is 10%. In the field, 20%.
Even so, the pandemic has expanded connectivity among the poorest. The survey shows that 61% of D/E class households accessed the internet in 2021, compared to 50% in 2019.
In 2015, the difference in connectivity between class A and D/E households was 83 percentage points. In 2021, the number dropped to 39. Today, 138.8 million Brazilians use the internet every day or almost every day.
The health crisis has also changed the behavior of users on the web. The biggest differences from 2019 are the increase in voice or video calls, real-time live streams and financial transactions. But while 90% of class A bought online in recent months, only 18% of classes D/E did so.
Another highlight was the growth of podcasts. According to the survey, in 2021, 28% of users listened to this type of content. In 2019, this proportion was 13%. This represents an audience of 41.2 million people, 23.5 million more than in 2019.
“One of the possible reasons for this increase is the growth in the production of content in Portuguese. Production has also become professional and diversified, catering to a wider range of tastes and interests”, explains the coordinator.
The sample of ICT Households 2021 is 23,950 homes and 21,011 people, interviewed in person between October 2021 and March 2022.
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