Techradar journalists refer to the latest report from the GSMA trade organization, which represents the interests of mobile operators around the world. According to experts, about half of the world's population - about four billion people - use the mobile Internet on their phones. In 2014, only one third of the world's population had access to the Internet via cellular communication.
Also, experts noted that only six percent of the population does not have access to any type of cellular communication, compared with 24 percent six years ago. The number of people who live in regions without cellular coverage was also named - 480 million people. This is seven times less than in 2014.
The coronavirus pandemic is one of the obstacles to the spread of cellular communications, as stated in the report. It is noted that due to COVID-19 and difficult economic situation, the cost of phones and cellular communications in some regions of the world has increased significantly.
“While more people are using the mobile Internet now than ever before, there are some fundamental barriers preventing more people from using this service,” said John Giusti, senior executive at GSMA. Giusti noted that representatives of governments from different countries and industry must “do more” to develop network infrastructure.