DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Internet access, the gap between urban and rural areas continues to be large

2024-01-17 11:09:26Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Internet access, the gap between urban and rural areas continues to be large

The Internet access gap between urban and rural areas of the country continues to be very large.

The data reported to the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) by the operators show that in urban areas about 31% of the population have a fixed Internet connection. While in rural areas, the penetration of fixed internet lines in relation to the population is not more than 9%. By the end of 2022, Tirana District alone had 45% of the number of retail internet connections offered in Albania.

Although the gap between urban and rural areas remains high, according to AKEP it has narrowed somewhat in recent years. If until 2019 only 10% of Internet connections were located in rural areas, in 2022 it is reported that 20% of the total connections are located in these areas.

Despite this improvement, the digital divide between urban and rural areas remains high, while even within urban areas, there is a large gap between regions. For example, the penetration level according to the population in the urban areas of Tirana is over 46%, followed by the Korça District, with 31% and that of Vlora, with 27%.

Meanwhile, the lowest penetration for urban areas is reported in the District of Dibra, with only 13% of the population, followed by the District of Kukës, with 15% and that of Lezha, with 17%.

As for rural areas, the highest rate of internet penetration is reported in Durrës County, with more than 20%, followed by Tirana County, with approximately 12%. The lowest penetration in the rural population is reported in Gjirokastra District, with less than 5%, while most other districts of the country are close to this level.

The main issue that hinders the development of broadband infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas, is the lack of financing mechanisms as well as the lack of proper incentives to invest. To date, in Albania there is no fund for universal service or a mechanism for contribution with public funds for the construction of infrastructure of this type.

Provision and construction of broadband infrastructure is dependent on private investments of telecommunications network operators. Extending telecommunications infrastructure is expensive, especially in areas where there is little or no existing infrastructure, where population density is low, or where access due to geographical difficulties is extremely difficult. In these areas, operators have little or no interest in investing in infrastructure because average tariffs are low and expectations for a return on investment are poor, given the lack of purchasing power.

In the national plan for the development of broadband, the Ministry of Infrastructure suggests that the appropriate legal and regulatory framework for investment needs should be implemented, cooperation should be increased at all levels that promote investments in digital infrastructure and most importantly, as foreseen by The EU, through the new Guidelines for State Aid, must create a framework and mechanism for public financing.

However, so far no such mechanism has been established or proposed.

At the national level, AKEP reports that at the end of 2022 the Internet penetration rate reached about 21% of the population. This indicator has been steadily increasing over the past few years and the penetration rate has doubled compared to 2017 levels.

However, the Internet penetration indicators should be taken with great reservations, considering that in the population data, AKEP refers to the last official census, the Census of 2011. Since then, demographic trends have been significantly decreasing, due to emigration and decreasing birth rate. A smaller population means higher internet penetration rates than AKEP statistics show.

But, on the other hand, even the number of Internet connections that operators report can have a certain degree of inaccuracy. According to market sources, some operators have historically tended to report higher numbers of subscribers, mainly by not cleaning out churned subscribers from their numbers.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×