Mobile contributing to economic growth and addressing social challenges
The Mobile Economy 2022
3.2 Mobile enabling access to the internet and life-saving services Although the mobile broadband coverage gap5 has been significantly reduced due to operator investments, around 450 million people globally still live in areas without access to internet services. Meanwhile, the usage gap6 remains unchanged and is even expanding in some markets; nearly 3.4 billion people are not using mobile internet despite living in areas with mobile broadband coverage. The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the impacts of the digital divide, with the unconnected less able to mitigate the economic and social disruption to their lives.
For many people, mobile networks remain the only form of internet access, underlining the urgency to identify solutions to accelerate mobile internet adoption and use. In 2021, more than 200 million people connected to mobile internet for the first time, bringing the total to 4.19 billion people (53% of the global population). By 2025, this number will rise to 5 billion, equivalent to three in five people globally.
5. The ‘coverage gap’ refers to those living outside of areas covered by mobile broadband networks. 6. The ‘usage gap’ refers to those who live within areas covered by mobile broadband networks but do not yet subscribe to mobile broadband services.
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