Internet usage has doubled in the past eight years, with an estimated 67 per cent of the world population using broadband services in 2022, according to Euroconsult. From access to public services such as remote health advice to remote working and learning and the ability to communicate opinions and share information, universal connectivity has become an increasing priority for governments across the globe.

While international organisations are encouraging infrastructure development plans for broadband use and accessibility in unserved areas, some 2.6 billion people remain unconnected. In its latest report on Universal Broadband Access (UBA), Euroconsult says that the least-developed and landlocked developing countries are particularly lagging, with just over one-third of their populations connected to the internet. Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa alone hold 85 per cent of the world’s unconnected people, with a quarter located in India.

“With access to broadband services increasingly recognised by governments as a driver of economic growth, this represents a significant untapped opportunity for service providers, estimated at $74 billion in 2022,’’ said Dimitri Buchs, Managing Consultant at Euroconsult and the Editor in Chief of their Universal Broadband Access report.

Mobile Internet has been the primary growth driver for network expansion and Internet subscriptions in recent years. However, despite mobile network availability to over 95 per cent of the world’s population, at least in the form of 3G, service affordability and lack of digital skills are yet to be fully addressed. This has created an ‘adoption gap’ – people do not use Internet services even when coverage exists where they reside. In 2022 only 100+ countries met international broadband affordability targets.

“This highlights the need for government and commercial initiatives to refocus efforts to close the digital divide beyond the expansion of coverage. We anticipate that at least one billion people, mainly those living in extreme poverty and uninterested in accessing internet services, will remain off the grid by the early 2030s,” added Buchs.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Research

Tags: africa, Asia, broadband, Euroconsult