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Digital Planet: Community Networks: Connecting the unconnected

Factual: Science & Nature

5G data stream running through a rural village

07/06/2022 GMT

Community Networks: Connecting the unconnected

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Community Networks: Connecting the unconnected

Community networks can provide a lifeline for those who cannot access the internet

The digital divide in tribal lands in north America, digital deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan and offline underground internet in Cuba.

Across the North American continent, there is a stark difference in the availability of internet to different communities. Tribal lands are typically remote, rural and rugged landscapes, and often have very patchy, or non-existent internet connectivity. Dr Traci Morris explains why such a digital divide exists and how tribes are working together, both within their communities and with each other, to create and gain access to communications networks. 

Digital Deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan
In rural Punjab in Pakistan, farmers and villagers gather in places called ‘deras’ to socialise, drink tea and coffee and discuss their farms. But one project has created a community network to transform one of these deras to have digital facilities – a ‘digital dera’. Farmers use this digital dera to access crucial weather forecasts and other information to help them manage their farms more efficiently. It also helps them battle the impact of climate change, as the crop cycles change due to shifting weather patterns. Founders of the project Fouad Bajwa and Aamer Hayat speak to Gareth about the impact of the digital dera project on the farming community. 

Offline internet in Cuba
Cuba is one of the least digitally connected countries in the Western hemisphere. This is due to the US trade embargo but also poor internet infrastructure and a tight control of its own government on flow of information. Although accessing digital technologies is getting better, for ordinary Cubans going online is still a challenge. The internet connection is slow, unreliable and prohibitively expensive. To combat this, they have created an offline underground internet called ‘El Paquete Semanal’ or ‘Weekly Package’ – it is a one terabyte collection of eclectic material of movies, tv series, sport and music, while turning a blind eye to copyright. Reporter Snezana Curcic visited to learn more about this Cuban alternative to broadband internet. 

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell 
With expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Producer: Hannah Fisher
Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum

(Photo: 5G data stream running through a rural village. Credit: Huber & Starke/Digital Vision/Getty Images)

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