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A Recap of M360 Digital Societies from Banglalink

The internet has become a commodity for many people round the world, yet millions of people still gain access to the internet for the first time every year, and there remains a “usage gap” of 3.2 billion people.

Mobile internet is a crucial component of digital societies

Mobile internet is changing lives and livelihoods around the world. It is a fundamental driver of our increasingly digital societies. Mobile internet provides the sole means of online access and engagement for millions of people globally, especially in low- and middle-income ...

Are mobile operators under-investing in rural coverage in emerging markets?

There is a common belief that the lack of rural network coverage in emerging markets is the result of under-investment by mobile network operators (MNOs). But is this actually the case? In this blog post, I look at how the GSMA is trying to answer these questions using ...

A Recap of Mobile360 Africa from KaiOS Technologies

GSMA Intelligence shows that since 2014, 4G has reached an additional 200 million people and 40 million new social media accounts. As a company focused on eliminating the digital divide, KaiOS could not be more excited about these statistics. Mobile connectivity is at an ...

Innovation is needed to connect the unconnected

Globally, 750 million people do not live within the footprint of mobile broadband. Without this coverage and connectivity, they’re unable to benefit from the potential that being online can afford. Although the mobile industry, and partners, have made huge progress in ...

How Africa is driving progress in global mobile internet connectivity

In 2018, for the first time, more than half of the world’s population was using the internet. For many mobile is the primary – or only – way to get online. Last year alone, almost 300 million further people connected to mobile internet. The extent and progress of mobile ...

Banglalink and the GSMA partner to increase digital literacy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a population of 160 million people, of which around 90 million are mobile users. 50% of the population is still not using the internet, but despite this, digital platform-based services are increasing at a rapid pace.

Cellcard Cambodia: Innovations in Rural Coverage

Rolling out mobile coverage in rural areas is expensive, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Most of the key costs operators face in expanding their network – building and maintaining a cell site, powering it and connecting it to the wider network – are ...

Do Mobile Connections Improve Women’s Lives?

As International Women’s Day approaches this Friday, a new research study by GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, and Gallup, reveals that bridging the mobile and internet gender gap may help boost women’s wellbeing across the developing world. ...

Mobile Connectivity Index 2018: Analysing the state of mobile internet connectivity across the world

At the end of 2017, 3.3 billion individuals were connected to mobile internet, with 300 million new subscribers added in a year. Nonetheless, more than 4 billion people are yet to be connected. [1] The GSMA Connected Society programme works with our members and other ...

The GSMA Connected Society Programme to launch a new innovation fund on rural connectivity!

Sub-Saharan Africa today still has the lowest proportion of mobile internet subscribers globally – 36% of the population are still not covered by mobile broadband, and 43% are covered but not using digital services. This means that only 22% of the population are active ...

Triggering mobile internet use in Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania

The importance of tackling the mobile internet ‘usage gap’ At the end of 1997, there were just 70 million internet users globally. Within two decades, thanks in no small part to the rapid growth in mobile networks, this had grown to 3.6 billion. [1] While this means internet ...

Mapping the unconnected: GSMA’s new tool to help drive investment in expanding mobile infrastructure

At the end of 2017, the number of mobile subscribers reached the symbolic mark of 5 billion. Mobile is now the most common – and often the only way – that many people around the world access the internet, with 3.3 billion now subscribing to mobile internet services. However, ...

Wikimedia Foundation partners with the GSMA to expand digital literacy in emerging countries

This post was guest-authored by Jack Rabah, Wikimedia Foundation. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the GSMA. About half of the world does not use the internet. That’s 3.9 billion people who are unable to share in the sum of all knowledge. While ...

Millicom and the GSMA: Driving digital inclusion in Rwanda through the Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit

This post was guest-authored by Mohamed Dabbour, EVP Millicom Africa. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the GSMA. Digital inclusion is good for everybody. It can transform customers’ lives and give them access to the kind of services, information, ...

Can mobile operators help their customers understand the internet? Lessons from a pilot with Tigo Rwanda

Across the world, the internet is increasingly central to people’s lives, one of the key ways in which people communicate, transact or find things out. Mobile now plays a central role in the economy: in 2016 it contributed US$3.22 billion to global GDP, representing 4.5% of ...

Mobisol: ‘Electrification is more than lights’ – An innovative approach ensuring smartphone affordability for rural African communities

This post was guest-authored by Henrik Axelsson Lilja, CEO, East Africa at Mobisol Group. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the GSMA. In the past years, Rwanda has been repeatedly praised for its efforts to raise the land-locked nation to a competitive ...

DFID Pakistan hosts Mobile and Digital for Development Ecosystems

This blog was written by Julia Burchell and Mariana Lopez On Thursday 9 November, the GSMA Mobile for Development (M4D) team working in Pakistan joined other partners at the Country Office of their strategic partner Department for International Development (DFID) to share an ...

Reducing the digital divide in East Africa – spotlight on digital literacy and innovation

This post was guest-authored by Emily Heaphy, Connected Society Intern & Geography student at Sheffield University. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the GSMA. Digital literacy is increasingly on the agenda for governments, international ...

Understanding the commercial challenges for mobile operators when expanding internet coverage to rural communities

This post was guest-authored by Uthmaan Madati (Tigo, Territory Manager) and Dennis Sakia (Tigo, Commercial). The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the GSMA. The GSMA championed rural connectivity project (headed by the GSMA’s Connected Society team) is a ...

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