{"id":4969,"date":"2025-09-09T12:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/4969\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T12:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:11:11","slug":"mobile-usage-gap-remains-stubbornly-wide-as-5g-advances-access-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/4969\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile usage gap remains stubbornly wide as 5G advances, Access Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new mobile internet connectivity report from the GSMA provides some impressive figures marking the spread of 5G around the globe, with 5G network coverage having reached 4.4 billion people, 54% of the world\u2019s population, by the end of 2024, an\u00a0 increase of 700 million compared with a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Although that seems impressive, it\u2019s not all sunshine and rainbows in the global mobile sector. While increasing numbers of people have access to 5G services, concerns remain about the return on investment<\/a> for mobile network operators, and there is still much angst related to the slower-than-expected rollout of 5G standalone (SA) networks<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The GSMA\u2019s State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2025 report<\/a> also delivers updates on the disappointing, as well as the positive, aspects of mobile network expansion, highlighting the continuing digital divide around the world even as 5G and 4G coverage grows.<\/p>\n

In one interesting \u2018usage\u2019 statistic, the report notes that the percentage of those who do not use mobile internet services, even though a service is available to them \u2013 the \u2018usage gap\u2019 \u2013 is ten times the size of the coverage gap, which refers to those living in areas without mobile broadband coverage (which still stands at 4% of the global population, about 300 million people). \u201cThis means that more than 90% of those not using mobile internet live in areas covered by mobile broadband,\u201d the report\u2019s authors note.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The usage gap, while still enormous, is at least shrinking, accounting for about 38% of the global population at the end of 2024, down from 40% in 2023. That means, at the end of last year, 3.12 billion people were not using mobile internet services despite being covered by a mobile broadband network.<\/p>\n

In total, 4.72 billion people \u2013 58% of the world\u2019s population \u2013 now use mobile internet on a personal device, as the chart below from the GSMA report shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A further 710 million individuals, 9% of the global population, use mobile internet on a device they do not own or of which they have primary use.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting online has enormous and undeniable socioeconomic benefits to individuals and societies,\u201d stated the GSMA\u2019s director general, Vivek Badrinath. \u201cEssential services, such as healthcare, education, e-commerce and banking, are now most commonly accessed online, and for billions of people this primarily means on mobile. In 96% of the world, the infrastructure is in place for people to get online via mobile. Removing the remaining barriers to using these services is essential to ensuring existing digital divides are reduced rather than deepened and many more of these 3.1 billion people can benefit from life-changing connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how is the conundrum of a continuing usage gap, even though 4G and 5G networks are available, to be addressed? As before, it comes down to improved education, as well as making mobile devices and data more affordable in low-and middle-income countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwareness of mobile internet is generally high, with more than 80% of the population in 11 of the 15 surveyed countries aware of mobile internet. In the remaining four countries, 25% to 41% of the population have yet to hear of mobile internet \u2013 a significant proportion of the population. Awareness levels also vary significantly within countries,\u201d according to the report\u2019s authors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among individuals who are aware of mobile internet but have not yet started using it, it adds, two key barriers consistently emerge: Affordability of devices and mobile data; and literacy and digital skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notably, the GSMA analysis shows that a device costing $30 could make handsets affordable to a large chunk of those who currently do not use mobile internet but live in areas where there is coverage, and thus help close the usage gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough \u2018the digital divide\u2019 and \u2018connect the unconnected\u2019 have been on the agenda for well over a decade, the time has come to drive more meaningful progress,\u201d stated Badrinath. \u201cA device at $30 could make handsets affordable to up to 1.6 billion people who are currently priced out of connecting to available mobile internet coverage. To produce this will require a concerted, collaborative effort between the mobile industry, device manufacturers, policy makers, financial institutions and more, but it is a responsibility we all must shoulder,\u201d added the GSMA\u2019s director general.<\/p>\n

5G in numbers<\/p>\n

In terms of 5G deployments to date, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has just published a couple of updates on both total and 5G standalone (SA) deployments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the end of July 2025, the GSA had identified 644 operators in 191 countries and territories investing in 5G. This number excludes nearly 200 additional companies awarded priority access licences in the US auction of CBRS spectrum, which could potentially be used for 5G, the organisation explains. Meanwhile, some 345 operators in 136 countries and territories are said to have launched 5G mobile services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also notes that \u201cat least\u201d 77 operators in 43 countries and territories are now understood to have launched public 5G SA networks, two of which are described as soft launches. An additional 31 operators are believed to be conducting field trials or tests for public 5G SA networks, while 60 are planning to deploy and five operators are currently deploying 5G SA.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaunches of 5G SA look set to continue apace for the rest of 2025,\u201d the GSA remarked.<\/p>\n

– Anne Morris, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new mobile internet connectivity report from the GSMA provides some impressive figures marking the spread of 5G…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[85,123,46,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-4969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-internet","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}