Collaboration is required toclose the digital divide
Around 45 maon people now use mobde irtermetacrass the cight countries in Central Asia and theSouth Caucasus that this repart focuses an.Whiethis is more than three times the number of mobikeintemet users (14.1 mion)a decade earier,nearty50 maionunconnected people remain at risk ofmissing out an the benefits of mobae irternet.Connectiwity wll play an even more integral role insociet y over the next decade and be yond,undertringthe urgency to dose the diital diide and bringuncomected people anline.
An important step in effarts to address the digitaldivide is to identify the nature and scale af thechalenge,an wdl as the most afiected segmentsof the population.GSMA Inte kgence dat a showsthat the coverage gap’has nar rawed markedlyinthe South Caucasus region but remains a chalengein parts of Cantral Asia,where around 10%f thepopuletion in most mar kets stll live in underservedarea.Whide the industry continues to invest ininnovative solutiors and partnerships to extendconnec tivity to stll underser ved and far fiung
communities,the adoption of mobde intemet serviceshas not kept pace with the expansion of netwarkcoverage.This has resuted in a significant usageqap.*In 2022,the usage gap was widest in Georgiaand Turkmenist an at around 52%and 50%of thepopulztion,respoctively.whle the usage gap waslowest in Armenis and Azarbaian at 35%and 36%,respectivety.campared to the global average of 41%.
Oosing the dgital dvide in Central Asia and theSouth Caucasus region wll nequire suhstantislcolaborative actions to both provide coverage forthase living in areas without mobile broadband andaddr ess the bariers to usage far those adread y ivingwithin the footprint of a mobile broadhand netwark.Co&aboratian its dheady oocurring,but there is scopefor more coa boration to increase digital skis andBteracy and improve affordabaty,in addrtion toinvesting in locad dipital ecosystems and an enatlngpolry environment that can accekerate growth inlocal content,services and appcations.
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