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"The state of Cear\u00E1, in Northeast Brazil, contributes only to 2% of the Brazilian GDP. Yet, it will soon host the Brazil's largest public broadband Internet network.\r\n\r\nThe Cintur\u00E3o Digital do Cear\u00E1 (CDC), which translates as Cear\u00E1's Digital Big Belt, will be inaugurated this Thursday by the governor Cid Gomes and the Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante.\r\n\r\nSo why did the local authorities decide to invest around R$50m (US$28.6m) into this initiative?\r\nWhy Cear\u00E1 needed a Digital Big Belt\r\nThe key to understanding the rationale behind the CDC can be found a paper co-written by Cear\u00E1's governor last year. In this text, which is available on Google Books, the co-authors expose the network's raison d'\u00EAtre: the CDC wasn't born in spite of Cear\u00E1's peripheral status, but because of it.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWith 8.4 million inhabitants, Cear\u00E1 is Brazil's eighth largest state by population. Yet, as we mentioned in introduction, it only contributes to 2% of the national GDP.\r\n\r\nThis exclusion is also digital: in 2008, only 3% of the population had broadband access, most of them in the capital, Fortaleza. To date, only five cities have medium-speed (512 kbps) Internet connections, with coverage a serious issue.\u00A0According to the paper, infrastructure costs and local monopolies mean that operators sometimes prefer to pay a fine than to offer broadband in remote areas.\r\n\r\nMany people couldn't afford faster speeds anyway - in Fortaleza, one third of the population lives in favelas (slums) filled with migrants who have left rural areas.\r\nCear\u00E1's Digital Big Belt: 2600km of optical fiber\r\n\r\n\r\nThis situation led the state to develop its own public network, the CDC. It is a highly ambitious project; according to the\u00A0government, it consists of a whopping 2,600 kilometers of optic fiber.\r\n\r\nThe network will soon connect 92 cities and reach 90% of the urban population in Cear\u00E1 (where only 10% live in rural areas.)\u00A0As for the maximum speeds, they could vary \u00A0between 30 and 70 Mbps depending on sources. In Fortaleza, the CDC will be integrated with existing infrastructure to enable speeds of up to 2 Gbps.\r\nA major public investment\r\nThere's no doubt this initiative comes at a cost: according to the state's website, it will amount to around R$47m (US$27m), a mix of state and federal redistribution resources. While infrastructure costs have been paid with public money, selected investors willing to share data transportation should be responsible for upcoming operational costs.\u00A0Besides, the CDC also means authorities won't have to pay the exorbitant connection costs they sometimes had to pay (according to the governor, offering Internet in schools used to cost US$300 a month per school, sometimes for only 64 Kbps.)\r\n\r\nWhat the Big Belt could change\r\nAs you can imagine, the CDC's main goal is digital inclusion, to foster economic integration and growth. Beyond the fact that the CDC will connect schools and public services, the general population will also be able to access the Internet from &amp;quot;public computer labs, public squares, schools, [campuses] and community centers.&amp;quot; Private Internet providers are expected to enter in the mix as well and offer more affordable services than before.\r\n\r\nBesides potentially attracting businesses to the region, high-speed Internet opens the door to many possibilities for public services; the Cear\u00E1's state website mentions that the administration could now consider implementing &amp;quot;telemedicine, distance learning, border monitoring and CCTV, among many others.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nHowever, the network's impact is expected to go well beyond technology. The authorities hope to measure its results on a large series of metrics: number of new businesses, local students' performance, homicide rate (due to CCTV), geographic repartition of economic activities, public efficiency, responsiveness during\u00A0FIFA World Cup in 2014 in Fortaleza, etc. If\u00A0Cear\u00E1 made this project a priority while it has serious economic and social needs, it's because it expects Internet to help solve them.\r\nThe bigger picture\r\nCear\u00E1 may have been a pioneer in Brazil, but it will soon be followed by similar initiatives across the country. Indeed, the federal government has been deploying since 2010 a vast plan called Programa Nacional de Banda Larga (PNBL) - Brasil Conectado (National Broadband Plan - Connected Brasil.) Its motto? &amp;quot;Fast Internet for all of Brazil.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nOne of the plan's most emblematic measures is to get operators to offer the population a 1 Mbps connection for R$35 (US$20); in other words, to provide clients with real broadband at a reasonable rate. This measure will very soon become a reality in 344 towns across 18 Brazilian states - with more to follow.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think of public initiatives to improve broadband access? Let us know in the comments.\r\n\r\nLiked this post? You may also want to read:\r\n\r\n\tFon expanding WiFi hotspots to Latin America, starting with Rio de Janeiro\r\n\tWhy Brazilian cyber caf\u00E9s still matter\r\n\tBeijing public WiFi will respect privacy, Chinese government claims\r\n\r\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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