International Action Plan Agreed To Get The Most Vulnerable Online

The ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development today launched an ambitious plan to enable internet access through smartphone for nearly three billion more people by 2030.

Around one-in-three people in the world still do not – or cannot – access the internet1. The adoption gap for mobile internet is most acute in the world’s most vulnerable countries – the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States – where most of the 2.7 billion people without internet access live. Within these countries and communities, it is often the people already at the margins, especially women, who struggle to get online.

Rabab Fatima, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) said: “Only 45% of adults in emerging economies own a smartphone, compared to 76% in advanced economies3. Women in turn are 18% less likely than men4 to have one. This exclusion is worse in the least developed countries, and in the most rural areas, and it reinforces and exacerbates marginalisation. Helping get high-speed internet access to all improves education outcomes and drives economic growth - and it must now become a policy priority for the international community.”

The report, ‘Strategies Towards Universal Smartphone Access’, shows the strong correlation between access to mobile internet services and GDP growth, with studies showing that as little as a 10% access increase in 3G services or higher can deliver as much as 2.46% growth in GDP in low- and middle- income countries. It also found that limited affordability and availability of smartphones, along with low consumer confidence, in part due to a lack of basic digital skills, are limiting internet adoption.

The Broadband Commission Working Group on Smartphone Access, co-chaired by Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone Group, Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the ITU and Rabab Fatima, UN High Representatives for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), identified three interventions that will have the most immediate impact on smartphone adoption:

• increased use by telecom operators of flexible device financing models;
• reduced taxes and import duties; and
• improved distribution models to make smartphones more accessible to rural communities.

Alongside these measures the report recommends further investigation into the use of device subsidies and the re-use of pre-owned smartphones.

Nick Read, the CEO of Vodafone Group said: “Access to the internet, and smartphones, are critical enablers of jobs, education, healthcare, financial services and much more. We need focused partnerships between business, government and civil society to drive smartphone adoption, through the five actions we have identified, to ensure we enable the transformative benefits of internet adoption for billions of people.”

The Broadband Commission will create taskforces to complete a five-point action plan resulting from its findings:

1. initiate win-win partnerships with players across the digital value chain;
2. improve recycling regulation and develop quality standards for pre-owned smartphones;
3. develop strategies for recycling of mid- and low-tier devices;
4. explore the use of Universal Service Funds and other government subsidies; and
5. further explore the economic benefits of reducing tax and import duties on smartphones.

Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the ITU, said: “Thanks to the collaborative efforts of all members of the Working Group, this report moves the conversation forward by providing detailed case studies on initiatives implemented globally to address the challenges in providing affordable broadband and smartphone access. This report is just the first step. For the next phase, I would like to invite you to join us to implement the recommended initiatives and the five-point action plan to reduce the device gap for the underserved communities globally, as we move towards building a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world.”

The Working Group also included representatives from: America Móvil; the government of Benin; the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN; the government of Ghana; the GSMA; the International Trade Centre; Intelsat; the International Science Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ITC); Millicom; Smart Africa; ZTE; and the World Wide Web Foundation. The lead author of the report was Professor Christopher Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. The report included research from the GSMA, ITU and 19 structured expert interviews, as well as insights from focus groups of entrepreneurs convened by the ITC, and extensive desk research.

The strategies for smartphone adoption build upon the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition which was launched earlier this year by the ITU, in close cooperation with the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. Partner2Connect is a multistakeholder alliance to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, with a focus on (but not limited to) the hardest- to-connect communities. The coalition has so far had 428 pledges with an estimated financial value of US$26.06billion (€26.04billion). Pioneer pledges include Vodafone, through its main African business Vodacom, which will invest US$190 million (€190 million) over the next five years to increase 4G population coverage to an additional 80 million people in Africa.

Download the Report

ENDS

• ITU: Measuring digital development: Facts and Figures 2022 (forthcoming).
• GSMA: Accelerating affordable smartphone ownership in emerging markets.
• Pew Research Center: Smartphone ownership is growing rapidly around the world, but not always equally.
• GSMA: Connected Women 2022; GSMA: The mobile gender gap report
• A4AI: Affordability Report 2021.

For further information:

Conor O’Loughlin, Head of Advocacy & Outreach, UN-OHRLLS: conor.oloughlin@un.org