By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech
With three months to go until the presidential elections in Brazil, current president and candidate for reelection Dilma Rousseff has made her first tech-related pledge.
Soon after the World Cup is over, presidential candidates will kick off their campaigns - and rolling out Internet access that is accessible to all Brazilian citizens is part of Rousseff's promises if she gets a second
In a video released yesterday (10) the president says the program "Band Larga Para Todos" (Broadband For All, in Portuguese) will aim at providing cheaper and faster Internet access to those who don't have it yet.
She added that as well as connecting digitally excluded Brazilians, the idea is to broaden the fiber optic infrastructure of the country, which would result in faster access.
"The Internet is not only a tool used for socializing, but also an important tool in education and one that allows participation [of citizens] in government decisions," Rousseff says.
The president said details of the pledge - such as how the new plan would fit into the broader National Broadband Plan and separate initiatives such as the government's partnership with Google to bring connect remote areas with balloons - would be released during the election campaign.
Only 43 percent of Brazilian households have access to broadband - but mobile Internet access has doubled in the last couple of years, according to recent research. The main justification for the lack of Internet access given by households that do own a computer in Brazil is the cost of services.