Bridging the digital divide with human brilliance

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be unconnected?

For billions of people, connectivity is simultaneously the technology behind the most thrilling experiences and routine tasks. It gives them the power to seek medical advice from anywhere and access education at any time.

Post-COVID-19, this dependence on communication technology is a given. If the pandemic had happened in 2000, according to The World Bank only 6.7 percent of the world would have had internet access. Can you imagine the absolute standstill without remote working and education?

But what has happened to the millions of people still disconnected from this expanding digital infrastructure? For them, being caught in the digital divide remains a daily struggle in a rapidly digitalizing world.

While there are numerous factors involved, including income, age and physical access, where you live plays a big role. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) notes that globally, only 46 percent of people in rural areas are internet users, compared to 82 percent in urban places.

There are solutions to bridging the digital divide. Whether through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) in Ohio, digitalization in India or future scenarios such as health care in the home, the foundation of global connectivity will be established by networks.

The state of Ohio is well known for its big cities such as Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. But it’s also home to large rural regions, many of which have been left without broadband access. In 2019, according to the American Immigration Council, 48.7 percent of people living in rural areas in Ohio lacked access to broadband internet. That’s approximately 607,000 people without broadband internet at home.

Megan Kvamme wanted to do something about this. She is the Executive Chairwoman of OhioTT, a telecommunications company with an explicit mission to build broadband into rural communities across the state. The company worked with Winncom Technologies, which designed and delivered a complete FWA solution based on Ericsson Massive MIMO technology.

“During the pandemic, we would see cars parked in all these parking lots with kids, filled with kids,” she says. “And you would ask people and realize these are kids trying to do home schooling from a car because they don't have access at home. And that was really the beginning of the conversation we had on how we solve this, because people can't live this way. They need education. They need telehealth. And they also need to be connected to one another.”

FWA uses 4G and 5G networks to deliver broadband service to fixed locations. One radio tower can connect to hundreds of houses in its coverage footprint. FWA made it possible for OhioTT to deliver broadband to areas that previously had no other viable connectivity options.

Fixed wireless service will continue to improve as 5G evolves to 5G Advanced and 6G. New spectrum bands will allow for higher capacity, and new technology will extend the range of signals. We see this already with 5G mmWave extended range. This extended range technology has extended the serviceable range of mmwave signals from a few hundred meters to more than 7 km. This brings the reach of high-end fiber-like services even further from the tower – reaching further into underserved and unserved areas.

With improvements on the existing grid, FWA range can be extended and support more homes with digital services. To reach even further out, and to support mobile services, integration of satellite connectivity into 5G and 6G networks would be a powerful complement.

Cities and population dense areas are often the first places to benefit from expansive connectivity.

Now, with solutions like Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), rural populations are able to access vital connectivity.

In the future, with Satellite connected smartphones, even those in very remote areas, such as on water or in mountain ranges, can be connected.

Wireless is, to quote Kvamme, “part of the mosaic of connection.” She emphasizes the importance of collaboration when it comes to connecting the unconnected. This includes cooperation with local government, technology companies, and, most importantly, with the people in unconnected communities who are often not heard.

When finally connected, people gain access to government services, health care, job opportunities, education and more. Businesses also grow, which has a positive knock-on effect as the communities around them will flourish and prosper, increasing living standards for all.

Kvamme says that the emotional payoff for OhioTT’s work can be immediate.

“In Perry County when we first started to get residents connected, it wasn’t just like turning on the lights, you could feel this energy running through the community. They were getting access to something that they had been not just wanting but needing for so long. And that became a beacon in these rural Ohio communities where suddenly people believed in the possible.”

Bridging the digital divide is not a single task but an ongoing effort in which governments and enterprises must be responsive to local challenges and opportunities.

Countries need to set the connectivity ambition bar as high as possible, rolling out connectivity fast and at scale, such as India is doing with 5G. This has been a clarion call from the global business community to world leaders in recent years.

Ericsson was founded on the belief that communication is a basic human need. The company has worked towards universal connectivity for over 145 years, and we’re excited to see how much further we can go by 2030.

Digital transformation is as important to the 21st century as electrification was to the 20th. What do you imagine to be possible once everyone becomes fully connected in our digital future?