Technology

Can the internet be a utility?

The digital divide is a real problem and free markets aren't closing it. Is it time for more radical action?

13 March 2021

Remember that great-but brief WhatsApp migration? I had to participate since several of my local community groups moved to an alternative. But it took barely two weeks before they had shifted back again. The problem was that you can get WhatsApp data bundles for cheaper access, which networks don't provide for other platforms. People just couldn't afford the data to not use WhatsApp.

This is as stark an example I've yet seen of the digital divide, revealing a fundamental challenge. If there is a pattern among different countries, it's that free-market systems aren't delivering adequate internet access to everyone (at least not until Starlink delivers on my high hopes).

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