Women are 14% less likely to access to or own a mobile phone. This gender mobile gap is analysed in the GSMA Connected Women 2015 report, titled “Bridging the gender gap: Mobile access and usage in low- and middle-income countries“, which gathers data from Mexico and Colombia, among other 11 countries worldwide. The report was presented in the GSMA Connected Women Breakfast, where leading industry women debated the gender challenges faced by the mobile ecosystem, during the Latin American Telecommunications Congress (CLT 2015) in Cancun, Mexico.
The event was led by Mónica Aspe Bernal, Communications Sub-secretary for Mexico’s Communications and Transport Agency (SCT), who declared: “The first step towards overcoming the gender gap is having reliable data, and that’s what makes the GSMA report so important. Gender equality should be a priority, not a minor issue, in digital inclusion policies”.
More than 1,7 billion women in low- and middle-income countries worldwide lack access to mobile phones, and women are 14% less likely than men to own a one, which represents a 200 million women gender gap. “More than 69% of the women surveyed said they feel safer while having a mobile phone”, explained Shireen Santosham, Senior Manager for GSMA Connected Women, while presenting the report.
Around 149 million Latin American women don’t have access to a mobile phone. In Mexico, the gender gap is relatively small compared to the rest of the countries in the report: Mexican women own cell phones in only 6% less cases than men. However, the difference is higher in rural areas, where women are 26% less likely to own a mobile phone.
The GSMA Connected Women 2015 report also highlights the gender gap experienced by women in the way they use their phones, and that, on occasions, they can’t take full advantage of the benefits of owning a mobile phone. In Mexico, for example, 32% of women don’t use mobile internet, compared to 26% of men. In Colombia those figures are 41% and 38% correspondingly.
The GSMA Connected Women Breakfast included a debate panel about the gender gap in the telecommunications industry, with the presence of Judith Mariscal, Head of the Telecom-CIDE Program; Cristina Ruiz de Velasco, External Affairs Executive Director for AT&T Mexico; Deborah Lerner, Head Consultant of Regulatory Compliance for Entel Perú; and Maria Cristina Capelo, Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager for Google Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
The third edition of the Latin American Telecommunications Congress 2015 was held from 13 to 16 July in Cancuún, Mexico, organised by GSMA, CAF Latin America development bank, ASIET and Mexico’s Communications and Transport Secretary (SCT). This important telecommunications meeting in Latin America gathered first-level authorities, executives and delegates, representing government and regulatory agencies, lawmakers, telecom operators, device and service providers, consultants and academics.