Yes, but the bandwidth is sufficient to access job applications, educational materials, etc. Heck, right now, I don't have wired internet at home, just my cell phone. I don't think the poor need fiber for Netflix, torrents, etc.
But absolutely the bandwidth is sufficient to live in the present.. or at least the recent past. It is sufficient to access the services that poor people need because they are poor.
Ok so rich people get $70 a month unlimited broadband (cheap) while the poor have to pay $150 for expensive lte with a useage cap.
If they had framily plans and bling phones and could fool people into paying $10/gb for fiber than verizon would have put up fios everywhere 10 years ago. The trouble is that fiber is too cheap.
Republic Wireless has 4G unlimited everything plan for $40/month. I don't buy it because I'm fine with 3G for the phone - viewing HD movies on the phone is not my priority. I'm sure there are even cheaper ways to get basic wireless connectivity. Of course, if you want to watch netflix in HD 24x7 while running a torrent exchange and a game server, that would not be enough. But we're talking about basic needs, right?
Here in Wilmington, MetroPCS offers unlimited talk, text, and data with 500 MB of LTE for $40. 2.5 GB of LTE for $50. These folks have a cell phone anyway, sometimes subsidized by the government. A cell is a lot more valuable to them than a wired connection. Any money spent on fiber would be an additional expense.
Wow, 2.5 GB, that will get you through a whole lot of educational videos. If your lucky and really careful with how you ration your usage, it might last a whole week! Only $50. I'm sure even the poorest of the poor can afford 200/month!
As someone who comes from a country where bandwidth caps are the norm. I can tell you that you have no idea how easy it is to control/monitor your usage. You're spoiled by having huge bandwidth pipes and caps, so you have no notion about how to conserve and utilize it efficiently.
Wireless is the predominant form of internet access in the majority of Africa. The poor might not have a place to sleep, but I guarantee you, they have a cheap cellphone. The slightly better off have a smart phone or blackberry with data access.
It might not be perfect. They might not be able to watch Netflix or hours of educational videos on youtube, but it's a start and better than what the poor have traditionally had since ever. Please stop moving the goal posts, it's intellectually dishonest.
As someone who lives in a part of the US that only has Satellite Internet and relevant bandwidth caps, I can tell you that I am under no such spoilage.
I am open to any suggestions on bandwidth conservation.
In the future, you may want to get the facts before jumping to judgement, though :)
Or to put you comment another way, 'the poor can't afford computers or good internet access, so therefore they don't need them'.