A human rights group said reducing Internet prices would help bring in more customers.
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Reducing Internet prices could ensure an increase in the number of customers served to over 50 percent of the population by the end of 2016, a human rights advocacy group has said in a recent study.
“If Internet prices are cut, infrastructure and coverage are expanded and Internet laws and regulations are modernized … Businesses, especially SMEs and entrepreneurs, (will) conduct more online commercial activities (e.g. online export), resulting in increased economic activity,“ said a study by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR).
Taking such a measure would ensure the government’s online services are more effective, therefore reducing bureaucracy and corruption, according to the ECESR.
On the contrary, if Internet prices and infrastructure remain unchanged, laws related to signature and intellectual property will continue to “hinder potential growth of e-commerce that currently represents 0.3 percent of retail spending on average,” according to the center. It explained that stagnant Internet services means the E-Government remains limited to a small segment of the population, while the majority continues to be served by a system that lacks transparency and poor accountability.
