Mobile data was also least affordable in the region
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest mobile broadband coverage gap, though the coverage has significantly improved in the region in recent years, according to a new report.
Mobile broadband denotes access to wireless internet via mobile telephony networks.
Mobile data was the least affordable in the sub-Saharan countries: The median cost as a share of monthly GDP per capita was around 4 per cent.
The report defines this gap as people living in areas not covered by a mobile broadband network.
The gap reduced to 19 per cent in 2020 from 50 per cent in 2014 but was still more than three times the global average of six per cent, said the report.
The global mobile internet usage trends were released as ‘The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity, 2021’ report by Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), an industry body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, in September 2021.
“The GSMA Consumer Survey involved more than 9,000 respondents from eight LMICs and was conducted in-person between October 2020 and January 2021,” the researchers wrote in the report.
The LMICs covered in the survey were Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Algeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Guatemala.
The final report compiled the results of this survey as well as usage trends of the recent years.
Sub-Saharan Africa had the biggest gender gap in mobile internet usage in 2020, the report stated. The region also had the widest urban-rural disparity in mobile internet usage in 2019, when the rural population was found to be 60 per cent less likely to be connected to mobile internet.
The rural-urban gap reduced in Kenya, Nigeria and Guatemala in 2020, increased in Algeria and remained relatively unchanged in the rest of the LMIC markets surveyed.
Affordability emerged as a key barrier to mobile internet use for many, heightened by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The biggest increases in coverage also occurred in the sub-Saharan African region and the Pacific Islands, the analysis showed.
Countries in west and east Africa, including Nigeria, Mali and Tanzania, saw major 3G, 4G and 5G rollouts. More than a quarter or 28 per cent of the region’s population was using mobile internet, more than double the coverage in 2014, the survey found.
Mobile broadband subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa are predicted to increase, reaching 76 per cent of mobile subscriptions by 2026, according to the new Ericsson Mobility Report.
Globally, 450 million people or 6 per cent of the world’s population were living in areas not covered by mobile broadband, the GSMA report stated.
Around 94 per cent of the world’s population had access to mobile broadband networks but the progress slowed, it added.
As many as 3.4 billion people in the world lived in areas with mobile broadband connectivity but did not use mobile internet, the researchers found.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.