Question: why do you think that people in the countryside need internet

Fiona Heesen answered on 11 Mar 2014:

Hi mewett123,

Great question!

In general, the Internet is a great tool to access education (such as this programme which is all online!), jobs and employment options, and connecting to social circles, like using email or video chat to stay in touch with family and friends. We even use it now for things that are very important to the government like filing taxes. So in general it is really useful and the people I speak to enjoy using it and want to use it more! In the countryside however the Internet tends to be slow – this limits the ability to use it, so videos might not work, you might not be able to use it for your job, and really it might not be possible to use it as much as you may want. In our cities it is the opposite, the Internet tends to be a lot faster as it is cheaper to build networks. This has created what we call a ‘digital divide’ – when the rural areas have slower services than big cities. A lot of people then really want to have good, faster Internet to keep up with the cities, be able to work, and stay connected to family and friends that maybe moved far away.

I hope that answers your question!

Fiona