Global economy faces $3 trillion loss due to mobile internet gap

Even today around 3.4 billion people around the world are not able to use mobile internet. According to a report by GSMA, due to this the global economy is facing a potential loss of about 3 trillion dollars.

The interesting thing is that mobile networks have now reached most parts of the world. Still, a large population is not connected to the internet. That means the network is present, but people are not able to use it. This is called ‘usage gap’.

Out of these 3.4 billion people, about 30 crore people do not have network coverage. While about 3.1 billion people live in areas where the network is available, they do not use mobile internet.

What is the reason after all?
The biggest problem is cost. Smartphones and data plans are still expensive in many countries. Apart from this, lack of digital information, lack of content in local language and dependence of many people only on Wi-Fi are also major reasons.

The situation is quite different in some rich countries. For example, in a country like Qatar, 5G networks are strongly available across the country and mobile internet usage there is expected to reach 80%. Whereas in countries like Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, internet usage is expected to remain around 20–30% by 2030.

Why is internet important?
Mobile internet is not limited to social media only. It makes access to education, digital payments, online business and banking services easy. This can become a major means of economic empowerment especially for women and small businessmen.

When people and companies come online, they discover new markets, reduce costs and increase the speed of work. Small gains add up to big economic growth.

challenge ahead
5G is expanding and discussions on 6G have also started. However, experts believe that a well-built 4G network is sufficient for common users.

Now a big question is that with the increase in internet traffic and the advent of technologies like AI, the pressure on the network will increase. In such a situation, who will bear the cost of infrastructure?

It is clear that connecting the rest of the population to the Internet is not only a technical issue but also an economic challenge. Unless this ‘usage gap’ is closed, the world’s full development potential will not be achieved.