While cities dominate most global Internet datasets, rural communities are often poorly served and remain poorly measured, despite being home to the majority of the world’s unconnected population.
Earlier this month, the Internet Society convened a panel at ACM SIGCOMM 2025 in Portugal on understanding Internet performance in rural and underserved areas.
Effective measurement is a prerequisite for diagnosing gaps, guiding investments, and shaping inclusive policy, but rural contexts have unique obstacles that need to be considered, such as sparse infrastructure, limited local expertise, and sometimes complex socio-economic environments.
The panel, organized by me and IEEE’s Ritu Srivastava, brought together experts from India, the UK, and the United States to discuss why rural Internet measurement matters and how the research community can help.
Why Rural Matters
More than 2.6 billion people worldwide remain offline; most in rural areas. Connectivity gaps persist not only in availability but also in affordability and reliability. Even where mobile networks exist, backhaul capacity is often too limited to deliver stable performance.
Ritu Srivastava mentioned that measurement in rural areas is fundamentally about visibility. If regulators and policymakers don’t see the gaps, they will not act on them. Right now, many rural communities are simply invisible in the data.
The Gaps in Today’s Data
Much of the world’s Internet performance data comes from commercial platforms like Ookla, Cloudflare, and Fast.com. While these platforms provide invaluable data for research, the measurements are mostly concentrated in urban centers where volunteers and commercial demand are higher.
Traditional metrics like speed and latency do not necessarily reflect whether the Internet is meaningful, that is, reliable, affordable, and good enough for real use cases like schoolwork or telemedicine.
Read: A New Chapter in Internet Fragmentation
Additionally, small operators such as Community Networks and rural (wireless) ISPs often lack the capacity to host measurement probes, leaving them out of global datasets. This, therefore, creates ‘policy blind spots’ as governments need to rely on operator self-reporting or national averages that obscure local disparities.
Importance of Indigenous Internet Measurement Platforms
Panelists pointed to promising local efforts that address these blind spots.
- In India, researchers created a grassroots measurement platform (AIORI) tailored to rural users.
- In Indonesia, a public app (MySpeed) helps capture regional network conditions.
- In Malaysia, open-source probes installed on cell towers exposed gaps between official coverage maps and lived experience.
- In Thailand, researchers at Kasetsart University have developed a local framework for consumer-based speedtest measurements.
“These efforts show the power of local innovation,” said Srivastava. “But they also highlight the need for global frameworks that can integrate community-driven measurements.”
Expert Insights and Key Questions for Policymakers and Researchers
Sarbani Banerjee Belur (BITS Pilani, India) emphasized that the pipeline into rural areas—the middle-mile and backhaul—is often the weakest link. Without strengthening upstream capacity, rural last-mile deployments struggle.
Shaddi Hasan (Virginia Tech, USA) noted that while it is easier than ever to deploy local LTE or fiber networks, “community networks live or die on their middle-mile. Without reliable upstream links, it doesn’t matter how strong the local network is.” He argued that measurement must also support regulatory and funding processes, not just academic research.
Read: Measuring Broadband Policy Success in Rural America
Finally, Nishanth Sastry (University of Surrey, UK) presented findings from LEOScope, a testbed for measuring Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite performance. He warned that while Starlink and similar systems can deliver fiber-like speeds in remote regions, their orbital design often favors wealthier areas, raising concerns about new forms of digital inequality.
Read: LEO Satellite Internet Latency Varies Dramatically Depending on Where You Are in the World
The discussion converged on several pressing questions:
- What new metrics can better capture the rural Internet experience?
- How can community-driven measurements be integrated into global platforms?
- What role should governments and funders play in supporting local and community networks?
- Will emerging technologies like LEO satellites reduce or reinforce the digital divide?
Towards a More Inclusive Internet
The panel made clear that rural Internet measurement is not just a technical issue—it is a matter of digital equity. Without visibility into rural performance, underserved communities risk being left behind as the Internet continues to evolve.
The next billion users will largely come from rural areas, and if we don’t measure their experience, we can’t meaningfully improve it. The Internet Society, through projects like Pulse, is working with researchers, policymakers, and community networks to close this gap—ensuring that Internet measurement reflects not just urban centers but the lived reality of rural users worldwide.