A major new initiative has been launched by Vodafone Group Plc and ITU to address the global digital divide, with the aim that an additional 3.4 billion people could have the ability to access and use the internet through a smartphone by 2030. With mobile broadband (4G) networks now covering 82% of the population of Low- and Middle-Income Countries, the mobile usage gap is 6x larger than the mobile coverage gap.
The new Working Group will identify policy, commercial and circular-economy interventions to increase smartphone access.
Co-chaired by Vodafone Group CEO, Nick Read, and ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, the Group’s launch partners also include: the Alliance for Affordable Internet; GSMA; the government of Ghana; Safaricom; Smart Africa; Vodacom Group; and the World Wide Web Foundation.