Introduction

Bolivia's capital is La Paz. It is bordered by Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay. It is located in the western part of South America. The area of Bolivia is 1,098,50 km2 and hosts a population of about 8,152,620 people. The population is made up of fifty-five percent indigenous peoples, thirty percent Mestizo, and fifteen percent European and Asian. Languages spoken in Bolivia include Spanish Quechua, and Aymara. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism with about ninety-five percent of the population as its followers; the remaining five percent follow the Protestant religions. This paper will be discussing the various barriers to Internet access in Bolivia, following under the headings: Telecom, Computer Infrastructure, ISP Issues, Economic Conditions, Social Issues and Internet User or Adopter Patterns.

The Digital Divide in Bolivia

The penetration of telephone mainlines per one hundred people is 6.9, mobile phones make a smaller dent with 2.7 per one hundred people and personal computers are .75 per one hundred people. These numbers on access to telecommunications are pretty low, especially in comparison to other countries in this study. Bolivia is lower than Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on all accounts. It is closest in access to Peru who leads by only a few people per hundred on the categories of telephone mainlines and mobile phones but by double the amount of people with personal computers. Approximately six hundred thousand people own computers across Bolivia, however, it is much more difficult to get access outside of La Paz. The number of Internet hosts in the country is .0114 per one hundred people.

Telecommunication Infrastructure

These numbers do not look so surprising once one looks at the government's role in spreading the telecommunications industry. The Italian firm Stet International purchased the company offering long-distance and international telephony --ENTEL -- for US$610 million in 1995. ENTEL enjoys a monopoly on long-distance/international service through 2001, and rates have remained high by international standards. Local telephony within cities is controlled by independent cooperatives that also enjoy a monopoly on wired service through 2001. While ENTEL has invested in fairly sophisticated switching systems, the cooperatives generally have not been able to modernize their systems, due to the lack of financing opportunities. Thus, local service tends to be poor. The three largest cooperatives (COTAS, COMTECO and COTEL, in Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and La Paz, respectively) control almost 85% of the country's local telephony." There are five Internet Service Providers operating in Bolivia at this time.

Economic Issues

Bolivia's storied political instability has not done wonders for its economy. In fact, it is one of the poorest countries in South America. The sources of revenue include a large agricultural sector as well as its energy industry. The various divisions in the Bolivian economy break down as agriculture equaling sixteen percent, industry at thirty-one percent, manufacturing at seventeen percent, and services at fifty-four percent. It is due much to recent government projects that have settled the inflation rate from eleven hundred percent to under twenty percent. However, the real GDP growth rate is very slow, only increasing at a rate of about one percent. Bolivia was included as one of the countries surveyed by the HIPC initiative, that is, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

In recent years, Bolivia has made strides towards a more market-oriented economy, but slow growth has hampered the economy due to the Asian financial crisis in recent years. The slow growth has also put a damper on anti-poverty programs and unemployment in the country is a definite concern; 11.4% of the country is defined as such. To get online, one must have the money to invest in a computer and with widespread poverty striking the nation, it is difficult for many Bolivians to support themselves with the basics, much less provide themselves with luxuries like the Internet.

The state of poverty in Bolivia is such that in 1993, twenty-nine point three percent of the urban population fell under the poverty level; and in 1995, it was found that seventy-nine point one percent of the rural population lived under the poverty level. Abject poverty, while not limited to, is certainly dominated by the population living in rural areas of Bolivia. The distribution of income is such, the lowest twenty percent of the population control only about five point six percent of the income while the top twenty percent of the population control about forty-eight point two percent of the country's wealth. These disparities, both urban/rural as well as income distribution itself have fractioned Bolivia to the point where the poor have very little to work with to improve their lot.

This uneven distribution within Bolivia is reinforced by the rank of Bolivia among nations in several categories. With a Gross Domestic Product of twenty-two point eight billion, Bolivia ranks eighty-two out of one hundred and ninety-one. However, because of its population, Bolivia ranks eighty-two out of one hundred and ninety-one in terms of Gross Domestic Product per capita. The immense cocaine trafficking that occurs in Bolivia and the relatively recent crackdown on drug trafficking done by the United States has also caused additional stress on Bolivia's economy; thousands of families that grew coca for the cocaine industry are also now out of business. Bolivia's foreign debt was six point two billion in 1999, illustrating their dependence on foreign powers. The number of stresses on Bolivia's economy and on its people display that there are larger problems then penetration of the Internet in Bolivia.

Bolivia is trying to catch up to 20th century standards in business and development. Much of the country remains in a time capsule. The majority of people who live there are peasants. Other problems have also socially affected Bolivia; for instance, Bolivia is the second largest manufacturer of coca, which is processed into cocaine. This contributes to the political corruption in the country and the unrest that the people have for the country's leaders. Recently, the government has made strides to improve its foreign relations to attract investors, but many are turned away from the country's history of hyperinflation.

Social Issues

Contributing to the penetration and interest in the Internet is the literacy rate in Bolivia. While the figures from 1998 seem high with adult literacy at eighty-four point four percent and youth literacy at ninety-five point four, it is important to note the amount of schooling that accompanies these figures. Statistics report that ninety-five point four percent of the population that is eligible attends a primary school but the numbers drop off sharply and only forty percent of the population that is of age attends secondary school. These low numbers are corroborated by the fact that from 1995-1997, only four point nine percent of the GNP was spent on public education. This is in comparison to Brazil who spent five point one percent, Peru who spent two point nine percent, Mexico who spent four point nine percent, and Chile who spent three point six percent. While these numbers look fairly close, one must remember that the GNP's for these various countries are wildly different, Bolivia being one of the poorest countries in South America. The Education Development Center along with the Bolivian government and other NGO's are promoting literacy, especially among women and girls over the radio, an appliance that about sixty-seven point five out of one hundred people own. This will give them an additional chance at educating themselves and hopefully give them an awareness of the Internet as a tool. Microsoft, too, is working to support IT education and training in schools, mentioning that it hopes to give support to children whose parents have either died or abandoned them.

Bolivia is the highest and most isolated country in Latin America. The people that live here are just as isolated, not because of the rough terrain, but by culture and tradition. Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. 70% of the population (8.1 million total) lives below the poverty line. From 1980 until 1999, the urban population has increased from 46% in 1980 to 62% in 1999, but nearly 80% of those who remain in the rural areas still live in poverty.

The Bolivian population is made up of 30% Quechua, 25% is Aymara, 30% is Mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian), 15% is white. The education system in Bolivia is improving however. 83.1% of the country is literate. 90.5% of the male and 76% of the female population is literate. Spanish is the official language, as are Quechua and Aymara. Although Spanish is the official language, only about 60-70% of the population speaks it at all, and out of that figure, many speak it as a second language. The remaining people speak Quechua, which is the language of the Incas. The predominately indigenous population can explain this language barrier. Well over 50% of the population maintains traditional values and beliefs. The population in Bolivia is spread throughout the country quite generously, meaning that there are not many truly dense population zones. The diverse geography also comes into play and creates natural barriers for the people. This certainly causes concern for the country wanting to put up phone lines. The diverse geography and the well spread out population would certainly make putting up phone lines a truly expensive and difficult task.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bolivia's various economic and political issues seem to be the stem of the problem regarding the state of the Internet in the country. While political unrest has caused upset in the economy and cocaine trafficking has brought further economic troubles since the crackdown by the United States, the poor keep getting poorer and the rich, richer. It is evident from the figures in the income distribution and the poverty levels in cities versus rural areas that Bolivia is a land of contrasts. Until there is a regulation on the telephone service and an upturn in the economy, Bolivia will have a hard time righting itself and entering the mainstream as other South American countries are doing with the Internet.