Access to affordable internet connectivity has never been more critical than during the current coronavirus pandemic. We have witnessed how the world almost shut down completely when people were asked to stay at home. During this period, the major connection between one and the rest of the world has predominantly been through the internet. We have also seen how the news media and several other industries resorted to Work From Work (WFH) strategies. In countries with sophisticated service delivery systems, ecommerce boomed and businesses like Amazon made a lot more money than usual. Socializing with friends and relatives also spiked through the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc. Video conferencing tools became the medium for meetings and workspaces. Even government offices and diplomatic circles ended up using these tools to facilitate healthcare rapid response and other activities. The need for affordable internet is almost becoming synonymous to the air we breathe.
It is unfortunate that for countries like Sierra Leone and other developing countries, we continue to pay huge sums to access this necessary service despite the easy access provided by Mobile Network Operators or Internet Service Providers (ISP). I will refrain from doing a comparative cost of internet charges across countries because the underlying challenges that make up the resultant high cost which is passed on to its consumers might be different as you move from one country to another.
Internet like electricity and water has become an essential service for the human race. It is the platform that makes the world a global village and accelerates economic development through cross-border trade using global payment platforms like SWIFT, VISA, MasterCard, Union Pay,..etc. It is and has ultimately become part of our global productivity and business operational requirements.
The pressure of the WFH requirements issued by some states and private employers has placed an additional financial burden on employees, creating an unexpected financial item on their monthly earnings. This extra-budgeted expense does not only affect employees but also parents whose children are part of a various school eLearning programs. These parents have to ensure they buy internet data bundles daily or weekly in addition to electricity charges required to access this service.
This pandemic has exposed the vulnerability in the healthcare systems of most developing countries. In Sierra Leone, apart from the inadequate medical supplies, we have seen medical professionals leave the country and return to their home countries because of the pandemic. Hence there has been an increase in the lack of professional medical support. With the use of the internet, professional medical care can be provided through video conferencing. The high cost of this service might cause patients to be deprived of the required medical specialists that are unavailable locally.
The use of social media also increased during this pandemic mainly because people were on lockdown with no other means of communication. Social media has acted as a solace in maintaining the psychological balance for most people who have been on lockdown. One can only imagine what the situation would be like, staying at home on lockdown without internet. It wouldn’t be too farfetched to speculate even higher increases in anxiety and depression than we are currently faced with. The social disorder created by this pandemic has been mostly neutralized with the help of the increased use of social media platforms and video conferencing tool.
We also saw the African Union (AU) holding conferences via internet to discuss and address pertinent issues ranging from healthcare; to economics and development. This just shows how important and critical the use of Internet has become and why the need to make it very affordable is necessary. At the height of the pandemic, world leaders resorted to using the internet and its tools to run their governments and also engage in bilateral meetings with their colleagues in other countries to discuss strategies on how to tackle this pandemic.
We are aware of the lack of internet service in most remote areas in developing countries and governments have been engaging the Mobile Network Operators to expand to those areas and hence make the service available. We are also aware that with 5G technology, the internet will become super-fast and the current bottle-necks on traffic congestion will be a thing of the past. This gives hope for a better service, but the underlying issue now is the cost for the Internet service. However efficient or effective the service becomes, if we cannot afford it then usage will drop and the cost of operations will continue to be very expensive. If Internet connectivity prices are significantly reduced, the MNOs and ISPs are likely to attract more customers; and ultimately utilize more internet bandwidth and hence reduce the amount of idle bandwidth for which they have already paid for.
Government should reduce taxes on this service and encourage competition or price wars for the benefit of the consumers. This pandemic has already changed our way of life and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The social distancing phenomenon is what will increasingly drive WFH strategies and also cause an increase in the use of several online platforms. Even though most countries have to lockdown, their ecommerce platforms continued to be active and proven to be the most effective form of cashless payment with social distancing as a core value.
If more people are connected, there will be an improvement in overall service delivery for internet based systems and ultimately ensuring that the operational guidelines for the pandemic are met easily.
©Sallieu Kabba
