The range of Internet use in my neighborhood is from 1) None, to 2) Every minute of every day.
Some of my neighbors have absolutely no use for it. Myself, I can’t be without for more than an hour, or I exhibit withdrawal symptoms.
I’m sure the people in group (1), above, do not know what they are missing, nor do they care, nor do they want to pay for someone else’s “perversions.” And most of them have more money than I do.
I can only hope they die off, and soon.
Shit just got serious.
I don’t have cable (Roku), I get some food and beverages delivered (Amazon - pain issues, can shop at a brick-and-mortar store but still need to take it easy), manage my health insurance (pain issues again), keep in contact with family, research for school, and will soon be moving to a prepaid cell phone for emergencies and using Skype phone service to cut down on costs. For me, necessity. For some, access is a necessity though using libraries *might *be more cost-effective.
According to senior British judges, not only is Internet acesss not a luxury, it’s a basic right that it’s unreasonable to take away.
Where I live the internet is considered a human right and I cannot see it as a luxury. The law is based on the idea that without internet access your freedom of expression and opinion is very limited. A lot of countries are having this human right recognised, I think it’s already in process in the EU. more info
I personally could not function without the internet, can’t imagine actually going into the bank to pay bills, having to make a call to order a pizza delivery or pulling out a marker to write on the tram walls 
It is definitely a luxury in a country such as Belize, monthly prices are sky high for faster speeds. Up to $500!!
Msot counties around the world have old system and little to no inmternet.
Here is top 20 most internet countries.
1 China
2 US
3 India
4 Japan
5 Brazile
You can read the other at web site.
So if you born in any of the 5 top countries you more than likely have internet.
Bandwith is still a major problem and the cost of servers , hubs and routers is really high thus we don’t have gigabyte internet speed.
Is literacy a luxury?
I think being able to use the internet - in terms of skills *and *access - is today what basic literacy was 50 years ago. You can survive without it, and some people actually make the choice not to read or learn to read. But their options in our society are going to be severely limited, in ways most of us don’t even think about. Sure, there are ways to get things done if you are illiterate (ask friends to read things to you, buy books on tape, fake forgetting your glasses so the person at the counter fills out the form for you, etc.), but it takes a lot more effort. Likewise, you can get along without being able to use the internet, but it takes a lot more effort, and some options are just closed to you.
Europeans have some really strange ideas about the definition of ‘rights’. I can’t say I believe my it myself. The internet is certainly important to most people but not a fundamental right that has to be provided by others.
There are undoubtedly still pockets of society in the US that don’t have internet access. I’m thinking rural Appalachia, Amish country (obviously) and Indian reservations.
While it’s not a necessity for living, it’s certainly becoming ubiquitous. And those who don’t have it are looked on as being backwards or anti-establishment.
The way I answer the question is this: what would I sacrifice before giving up Internet access?
The answer is quite a lot. Obviously I need food and shelter in a way far stronger than that of the Internet. But I would absolutely live in a smaller house or stop eating out if I had to to afford access. Don’t tell Comcast, but I would pay as much as my mortgage if it came down to it. Maybe more.
I can go without Internet for a week, just as I can live in a tent for a week. It’s fun for a while, but in the long run there’s no replacement for the intellectual stimulation that the Internet provides.
And yeah, I might say that access is a human right. What’s not a right is the cost of that access (just as free speech is a right, but I don’t get to force a TV station to give me a platform for free).