Over the years, accessing the internet has become cheaper and easier and mobile broadband has gone from being non-existent to being ubiquitous. But this progress has been from a very low base and so much remains to be done, especially in least developed countries (LCDs), according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report. Lucas Ajanaku writes.
According to the Director, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, since the Fourth United Nations Conference on LDCs in 2011, progress has been made in terms of connectivity.
He said the share of the population in LDCs using the internet increased almost ten-fold to reach 36 per cent. Accessing the internet has become cheaper and easier and mobile broadband has gone from being non-existent to being ubiquitous.
“But progress has been from a very low base and so much remains to be done. SDG Target 9.c called for closing the access gap in the LDCs by 2020. Yet, three years past this deadline, almost one fifth of the population cannot even access the internet. Among those who can access, many do not, because of multiple barriers, ranging from awareness to skills and costs. Over the past decade, the connectivity challenge has become more complex and demanding.
“Bringing everyone online is no longer enough. Meaningful connectivity – the possibility to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable online experience – is the new imperative.
“For LDCs, this remains a major challenge. The digital divide between LDCs and the rest of the world shows little sign of narrowing. The risk is all too evident as the world becomes increasingly adept at leveraging the Internet for value creation, LDCs risk falling further behind,” he wrote in Foreward to Measuring digital development Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries, released at the weekend.
According to the report, only 36 per cent of the population in LDCs are online as last year, an estimated 407 million people in LDCs were using the internet, accounting for 36 per cent of the population, compared to 66 per cent globally. The 720 million people still offline in LDCs account for 27 per cent of the global offline population, even though the LDC population accounts for only 14 per cent of the world’s population.
The average conceals striking disparities across the 46 LDCs. In 2021, the latest year for which country-level data are available, the Internet penetration rate ranged from 6 per cent in Burundi to 86 per cent in Bhutan, which is on par with many advanced economies (see section Diversity within the LDCs). In 2022, in the one LDC in the Americas region, Internet use stood at 53 per cent, in the 12 LDCs in Asia and the Pacific it was 43 per cent, while in the 33 LDCs in Africa the average was 28 per cent.1
Since the Fourth United Nations Conference on the LDCs in 2011, Internet use in LDCs surged from four per cent of the population to 36 per cent, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate of 22 per cent, more than three times the global growth rate (7.2 per cent).
However, this differential is not surprising considering that LDCs started from a much lower base (in 2011, 31 per cent of the world’s population was already online). Figures show that as Internet penetration increases, growth in Internet use tends to slow down, indeed, growth rates ranged from 13 to 17 per cent between 2019 and 2022, significantly lower than those observed between 2011 and 2018 (23 to 39 per cent).
In LDCs, the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause a boost in Internet use, unlike in more advanced economies, where growth rates typically doubled in 2020 and 2021.
These figures suggest that universal and meaningful connectivity – the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable online experience – remains a distant prospect for LDCs. ITU and the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology have established a set of aspirational targets for universal and meaningful connectivity for 2030.
While it is possible that a few countries will meet the targets by 2030, many LDCs will not, the report noted.
It said when measured in terms of internet use, the digital gender gap in LDCs remains significant with no sign of narrowing. Last year, 43 per cent of the male population in LDCs was online, up from 28 per cent in 2019. That is 13 percentage points more than the uptake among the female population (30 per cent). The gender parity score, calculated as the percentage of females divided by the percentage of men using the Internet, stands at 0.69 and has remained stable since 2019. In contrast, with a parity score of 0.92 the world as a whole is moving closer to gender parity, defined as a score of at least 0.98.
As of last year, the report added, almost half (48 per cent) of young people (15- to 24-year-olds) in LDCs were online, almost double the rate of 2019 (26 per cent). That is almost 15 percentage points more than for the rest of the population (33 per cent, up from 20 per cent in 2019). While trailing the global average of 75 per cent, the relative gap between LDCs and the world average is much smaller for young people than the gap for the whole population. This greater uptake among the young bodes well for the future, as half of the population of LDC is 20 or younger. “It means that the workforce will become more connected and technology-savvy as the young generation joins its ranks. This in turn could improve the development prospects of LDCs.
“In the LDCs, just over a quarter (28 per cent) of the population in rural areas was online in 2022, compared with 52 per cent of the population in urban areas. Between 2019 and 2022, the urban-rural ratio narrowed from 2.5 to 1.9, as rural areas are experiencing ‘catch-up’ growth: 21 per cent annually during the four-year period, more than twice the rate in urban areas (10 per cent). These trends mirror the trends observed at the global level,” ITU report noted.
Broadband subscriptions
The report noted that the number of mobile broadband subscriptions in LDCs grew from a negligible 1.3 per 100 people to 42 per 100 inhabitants in 2022. Despite the impressive growth – an average of 37 per cent per annum – current penetration rates are less than half the world average (87 active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants). Vast regional disparities exist in the group. In LDCs in Asia and the Pacific, there were 65 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people, more than twice the rate in the Africa region LDCs. Country-level disparities are staggering, one LDC had 110 subscriptions per 100 people, another less than 3.
Fixed-broadband plays an insignificant role in LDCs, which seem to be caught in a vicious cycle of high costs and low demand, with only 1.6 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2022. The situation is better in LDCs in Asia and the Pacific, with 4.1 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, than in LDCs in Africa, with only 0.4 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Fixed broadband networks are unavailable in many parts of LDCs, especially in rural areas, and if they are available, they are often prohibitively expensive (see the “Affordability” section below).
Mobile network coverage
The report said universal broadband coverage remains a mere wishful thinking. In LDCs, and most developing countries, mobile broadband (3G or above) is the main way — and very often the only way – to connect to the Internet. And yet only 83 per cent of the combined LDC population is covered by a mobile broadband signal, compared with 95 per cent of the world’s population. For LDCs, this leaves an access gap of 17 per cent of the population that cannot access the Internet: some have no mobile signal at all (8 per cent), and others have a mobile cellular signal that does not connect to the Internet (9 per cent). The access gap of the world’s population is five per cent, made up of the two per cent of the population with no mobile signal and three per cent that only receives a 2G signal. Similar to other connectivity measures, performance varies across LDCs. For instance, the access gap is 10 per cent in LDCs in Asia and the Pacific, half the gap observed in the LDCs in Africa.
These results show that as a group, LDCs are far from reaching the SDG Target 9.c of universal mobile broadband coverage despite having passed the deadline to meet that target three years ago (“to significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020”).
Network connection and access are prerequisites for using the Internet: while 17 per cent of the population in the LDCs cannot access the Internet, another 47 per cent has access to it but does not use it. This usage gap is a reminder that there are other barriers besides access that stand in the way of Internet use.
Virtually all urban areas in the world are covered by a mobile broadband network. In LDCs, however, one fifth of the urban population only has access to a 3G network, a much slower technology than 4G. In the rural areas of LDCs, 13 per cent of the population has no mobile signal at all and another 13 per cent only has access to a 2G network, meaning that 26 per cent cannot access the Internet. Forty-two per cent can only rely on a 3G network. This means that only a third of the rural population of LDCs is covered by a 4G network.
Affordability
The lack of affordability is one of the main barriers to internet use and accessing the internet is more costly in LDCs than anywhere else in the world. The price of a benchmark mobile broadband basket with a 2 GB monthly allowance amounts to almost six per cent of the average monthly income in LDCs, which is around four times the 1.5 per cent average cost across the globe. The UN Broadband Commission has set an affordability target for the cost of a benchmark monthly entry-level broadband subscription at no more than 2 per cent of the average gross national income (GNI) per capita in a country. In 2022, only two LDCs met the 2 per cent target: Bangladesh (for both mobile- and fixed-broadband subscriptions) and Bhutan (for mobile broadband only). There are a further 16 LDCs where mobile broadband services cost less than five per cent of monthly GNI per capita. This means that in the vast majority of LDCs, Internet costs more than five per cent of GNI per capita and can rise to as much as 24 per cent.
The share of income that the poorer segment of the population needs to spend makes it even more prohibitive.
In LDCs, the price gap between mobile and fixed broadband is much wider than elsewhere in the world. Fixed broadband typically costs around three times as much as mobile broadband in LDCs, but ‘only’ twice as much elsewhere. Median prices conceal vast disparities: fixed broadband basket prices in 2022 ranged from 3.6 to 71.6 per cent of monthly GNI per capita in 90 per cent of LDCs where data is available (although in one country it reached 96.2 per cent).
Broadband services are becoming more affordable in LDCs, despite the dampening effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on this trend. The median price for a data-only mobile subscription in 2018 dropped from 8.9 per cent of monthly GNI per capita to 5.9 per cent in 2022, a 34 per cent reduction.
Affordability has improved faster in LDCs where prices were highest. Among LDCs with the most expensive data-only mobile subscriptions in 2018, prices ranged from 19.6 to 85.7 per cent of GNI per capita. In contrast, by 2022, prices in the same LDCs ranged from 9.5 to 23.8 per cent of monthly GNI per capita. Over the same period, the median price of fixed broadband subscriptions dropped by only 19 per cent and still accounts for 17 per cent of GNI per capita.
Phone ownership, subscriptions
Last year, majority of people in LDCs owned a mobile phone (58 per cent), which is much closer to the global average (73 per cent) than observed for many other indicators. Not surprisingly, this was also the case for mobile cellular subscriptions: the LDC average of 79 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is relatively close to the world average of 108. The gap in mobile broadband is much bigger: 42 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in the LDCs compared with 87 for the world. In part this is because the necessary infrastructure to access a mobile broadband network is missing, but these results also suggest that voice and text remain an important way of communication in LDCs.
The gender gap for mobile phone ownership remains wide. In 2022, mobile phone ownership among the male population in LDCs reached 68 per cent, while ownership among the female population rose to only 48 per cent. This translates into a gender parity score of 0.71, much lower than the global gender parity score of 0.88. However, neither parity scores for LDCs, nor scores at the global level, have made much progress over the last four years.
International bandwidth usage
The international connectivity gap between LDCs and the rest of the world is widening fast
The unrelenting appetite for Internet data continues to drive demand for international data and therefore bandwidth usage. However, the lack of infrastructure for international connectivity remains a barrier for universal and meaningful connectivity in many LDCs. In 2022, the average international bandwidth usage was 38 kbit/s per Internet user in LDCs, about one sixth of the global average of 233 kbit/s.
More recently, LDCs have benefitted from the deployment of submarine and overland cables as well as satellite links. Since 2015, bandwidth usage in LDCs has grown by 28 per cent annually, higher than the global increase of 24 per cent. Nevertheless, this has not been sufficient to close the staggering international connectivity gap between LDCs and the rest of the world.
On average, Internet users in LDCs used less international bandwidth in 2022 than the world average in 2015 and the gap between LDCs and the world has widened from 45 kbit/s to 195 kbit/s.
Disparity between LDCs
Least developed countries are often analysed as a single group. However, as far as elements of connectivity performance are concerned, it can be useful to group LDCs based on indicators of Internet use, mobile phone ownership, mobile and fixed subscription levels, affordability of entry-level mobile and fixed broadband, and gender equality.
The first group made up of Bhutan, Cambodia, Djibouti, Lao P.D.R., Lesotho, Mauritania, Myanmar, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Tuvalu, is characterized by levels of ICT usage and ownership similar to overall world averages. In this group, the gender gap in Internet use is on a par with the rest of the world. However, affordability remains a challenge with prices well above the Broadband Commission target of two per cent of monthly GNI per capita or lower.
By contrast, the second group of LDCs – consisting only of Bangladesh and Republic of Nepal– has lower levels of Internet use, mobile phone ownership, and mobile subscriptions as well as a wide digital gender gap. However, with prices approaching two per cent of monthly GNI per capita, these two LDCs are much better placed to reach the Broadband Commission target on affordability.
The third group consisting of Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, and Zambia, is the largest and therefore most representative LDC on average. Low levels of ICT use and ownership, low subscription levels and poor affordability measures demonstrate the development challenges present in these countries.
However, their circumstances remain ahead of the fourth group of countries, which include Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Sudan.
ICT indicators in these countries are the poorest among LDCs. In this group, the average for mobile phone ownership remains well below 50 per cent. In addition, these countries are characterized by especially challenging affordability issues with the median country’s data-only mobile broadband plan priced at over 10 per cent of monthly GNI per capita.
The diversity of these groups of countries underlines the need for flexibility in approaching the varied challenges of bringing universal and meaningful connectivity to people living in LDCs.
The underlying conditions in each country must be fully understood to develop truly impactful policies.
Note: “This translation was not created by the ITU. ITU is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original English edition shall be the binding and authentic edition.”
