Internet Access and Digital Divide:Nigeria

Victor CHUKWUMA, Department of Physics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, PO Box 351, Ago-

Iwoye Ogun State, NIGERIA

Tel: +234 805 5075 270, Email: victorchukwuma@yahoo.com

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Aim

It’s the purpose of this presentation to• Show the history and the status of internet penetration in Nigeria and

highlight the challenges faced by Nigerian Universities.• Suggest ways to influence sustainable outcomes in internet penetration in

Nigerian tertiary institutions.

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Global Internet Penetration

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Global internet Penetration

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WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS

World Regions Population ( 2010 Est.)

Internet Users

Dec. 31, 2000

Internet Users

Latest Data

Penetration (%

Population)

Growth 2000-2010

Users % of

Table

Africa 1,013,779,050 4,514,400 110,931,700 10.9 % 2,357.3 % 5.6 %

Asia 3,834,792,852 114,304,000 825,094,396 21.5 % 621.8 % 42.0 % Europe 813,319,511 105,096,093 475,069,448 58.4 % 352.0 % 24.2 %

Middle East 212,336,924 3,284,800 63,240,946 29.8 % 1,825.3 % 3.2 %

North America 344,124,450 108,096,800 266,224,500 77.4 % 146.3 % 13.5 % Latin America/Caribbean

592,556,972 18,068,919 204,689,836 34.5 % 1,032.8 % 10.4 %

Oceania / Australia 34,700,201 7,620,480 21,263,990 61.3 % 179.0 % 1.1 %

WORLD TOTAL 6,845,609,960 360,985,492 1,966,514,816 28.7 % 444.8 % 100.0 %

World Regions Population Internet Users Internet Users Penetration Users Users( 2008 Est.) Dec. 31, 2000 Latest Data (% Population) Growth % of

2000-2008 TableAfrica 975,330,899 4,514,400 54,171,500 5.60% 1100.00% 3.40%Asia 3,780,819,792 114,304,000 657,170,816 17.40% 474.90% 41.20%Europe 803,903,540 105,096,093 393,373,398 48.90% 274.30% 24.60%Middle East 196,767,614 3,284,800 45,861,346 23.30% 1296.20% 2.90%North America 337,572,949 108,096,800 251,290,489 74.40% 132.50% 15.70%Latin America/Caribbean 581,249,892 18,068,919 173,619,140 29.90% 860.90% 10.90%Oceania / Australia 34,384,384 7,620,480 20,783,419 60.40% 172.70% 1.30%WORLD TOTAL 6,710,029,070 360,985,492 1,596,270,108 23.80% 342.20% 100.00%

Global Internet Penetration

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Global Internet Penetration

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African Internet Penetration

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Internet Penetration in Nigeria

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TOP 20 COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS

# Country or Region

Population, 2010 Est

Users Latest Data

% Population (Penetration)

Growth 2000-2010

% of World Users

1 China 1,330,141,295 420,000,000 31.6 % 1,766.7 % 21.4 % 2 United States 310,232,863 239,893,600 77.3 % 151.6 % 12.2 % 3 Japan 126,804,433 99,143,700 78,2 % 110.6 % 5.0 % 4 India 1,173,108,018 81,000,000 6.9 % 1,520.0 % 4.1 % 5 Brazil 201,103,330 75,943,600 37.8 % 1,418.9 % 3.9 % 6 Germany 82,282,988 65,123,800 79.1 % 171.3 % 3.3 % 7 Russia 139,390,205 59,700,000 42.8 % 1,825.8 % 3.0 %

8 United Kingdom

62,348,447 51,442,100 82.5 % 234.0 % 2.6 %

9 France 64,768,389 44,625,300 68.9 % 425.0 % 2.3 % 10 Nigeria 152,217,341 43,982,200 28.9 % 21,891.1 % 2.2 % 11 Korea South 48,636,068 39,440,000 81.1 % 107.1 % 2.0 % 12 Turkey 77,804,122 35,000,000 45.0 % 1,650.0 % 1.8 % 13 Iran 76,923,300 33,200,000 43.2 % 13,180.0 % 1.7 % 14 Mexico 112,468,855 30,600,000 27.2 % 1,028.2 % 1.6 % 15 Italy 58,090,681 30,026,400 51.7 % 127.5 % 1.5 % 16 Indonesia 242,968,342 30,000,000 12.3 % 1,400.0 % 1.5 % 17 Philippines 99,900,177 29,700,000 29.7 % 1,385.0 % 1.5 % 18 Spain 46,505,963 29,093,984 62.6 % 440.0 % 1.5 % 19 Argentina 41,343,201 26,614,813 64.4 % 964.6 % 1.4 % 20 Canada 33,759,742 26,224,900 77.7 % 106.5 % 1.3 % TOP 20 Countries 4,480,797,760 1,490,754,397 33.3 % 417.8 % 75.8 % Rest of the World 2,364,812,200 475,760,419 20.1 % 551.2 % 24.2 % Total World - Users 6,845,609,960 1,966,514,816 28.7 % 444.8 % 100.0 %

YEAR Users Population % Pen. Usage Source 2000 200,000 142,895,600 0.1 % ITU 2006 5,000,000 159,404,137 3.1 % ITU 2009 23,982,200 149,229,090 16.1 % ITU

Internet Penetration in Nigeria: SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable

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Reasons for the increase in Internet Penetration in Nigeria: Submarine Cable Systems- Private Sector Participation

Main One Glo-1

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Reasons for the increase in Internet Penetration in Nigeria: MTNN’s National microwave and fibre optic transmission network

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SDH Microw ave Complete

MPLS Fibre Rings 1 & 2 Complete

MPLS Fibre Ring 3 Complete

MPLS Fibre Ring 4 Complete

Reasons for the increase in Internet Penetration in Nigeria: Airtel’s GPRS & EDGE National Coverage

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Reasons for the increase in Internet Penetration in Nigeria: Reduction in Cost of Usage

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Bundle Plan

Inclusive Data

Validity Period

Price (N)

Activation Codes

Daily 150MB 24hours 500 103

Night 3GB 9pm-6am 2,500 102

Weekend 3GB 9pm(Fri )-6am (Mon)

3,000

108

Daytime 3GB 9am-9pm( 30days)

6,000 107

Monthly 5GB 24/7 8,000 101

Out of bundle rate 5kobo per kilobyte applies.

ACTIVITY USAGE GUIDE

1 hour instant messaging 0.25MB- 1MB

1 hour of web browsing 1.5MB-25MB

Download 100 e-mails 1MB-10MB

1 hour on Facebook 2MB- 80MB

Download 1 photo 0.05MB-2Mb

Download 1 MP3 file 3MB- 8MB

1 software download 70MB-800MB

1 hour of video streaming ( e.g. YouTube)

250Mb-500MB

Internet Penetration in Nigeria: Internet Providers’ Networks

• MTNN’s backbone transmission infrastructure consists of over 7,000 Km of microwave link and fibre optics cable.

• Globacom and Zain have their networks• The networks connects nearly all University towns.• Main Street Technologies: 7,000 kilometres Main-One Cable System run

from Portugal to Nigeria with branches to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. The cable will deliver 1.92Tbps of bandwidth, equivalent to 10 times the available capacity of the existing fibre optic cable serving the west coast of Africa.

• Main-One offers about 200 times the satellite capacity currently available across sub-Saharan Africa, would operate on an open-access basis to telecoms, Internet and data providers in West Africa

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Internet Penetration in Nigeria: The Needful

• Despite the observed increase in penetration we are still confronted with the problem of cyber infrastructure and bandwidth for Universities and Research Institutes; these institutions are left to market forces.

• Bandwidth cost for Nigeria universities are 50 times or more higher than for universities in developed countries.

• As a solution, Nigerian scientists should through eGYAfrica and Nigerian NREN, initiate solution-oriented projects with identifiable goals which Corporate organisations/Government can buy-in creating synergy.

• NigREN can leverage on the existing infrastructure, like colleagues in Argentina did, of the service providers.

• Boubakar et al(2008) recommended policy advocacy, collaboration between Institutions and formation of partnership between institution and Internet Services Providers

Thank You

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