An Assessment of Mobile Internet Usage in a Rural Setting of a Developing Country

Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa, studies show that the key driver for mobile Internet use is social media. However, despite the global reach and proliferation of the Internet and mobile phones, research on mobile Internet use in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa is lacking. There is very little research on how rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa use the Internet, yet a number of studies have shown that there are unique technological needs of rural communities. The purpose of this article is to explore and understand how marginalized rural people in a sub-Saharan African country like Uganda use the Internet, and the factors that limit the use of this technology. This research found out that sports websites accessed through mobile phones were a more substantial indicator of mobile Internet use in Arapai sub-county. This is contrary to what much of the literature presents that the reason for going online in Sub-Saharan Africa is to access social media networking sites. The research also found out that the most limiting factor for accessing the Internet was poor network connectivity.