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Digital Access, Inequalities & Inclusion

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Expanding Digital Opportunity: A Framework and Road Map for Strengthening Digital Inclusion

Anne N. Junod, Corianne Scally Payton, Marokey Sawo, Lizzy Ferrara

Washington, DC: Urban Institute (2025), 82 pp.

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How would a sub-$30 smartphone affect Africa?

James Barton

Developing Telecoms, November 27 (2025)

"African consumers in particular struggle with the cost of 4G-capable devices - the GSMA’s recent Mobile Economy Africa Report for 2025 found that there is still a significant affordability gap, with around 58% of Africans remaining offline because smartphones are too expensive. Together with majo ... more

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Télécoms en Mauritanie: L’impact des crédits de communication

Taghi Cheikhna Mohamed Taghioullah

Paris: L'Harmattan (2025), xviii, 224 pp.

"Cet ouvrage propose une lecture croisée du marketing et de la régulation dans le secteur des télécommunications mauritanien. À partir des comportements d’achat de crédit de communication, il interroge les enjeux de transparence tarifaire, d’équité et de gouvernance publique. L’auteur ... more

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Bootstrapping the digital divide: A situational analysis of digital demands and collective capabilities in low-income households

Anthony Mc Cosker, Julie Tucker

Information, Communication & Society, volume 28, issue 1 (2025), pp. 105-123

"This paper examines intersections between social disadvantage and digital inequality in low-income household settings using situational analysis. Partnering with social service organisations, we conducted qualitative fieldwork research over 12 months with low-income households in disadvantaged subu ... more

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Paying the costs of connection: Human rights of young adults in the digital age in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam

Warwick, Coventry (UK): Digital Health and Rights Project; University of Warwick, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (2025), 63 pp.

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Learning, Digital Skills, and the Global South

Jeffrey James

Cheltenham (UK); Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing (2025), vi, 122 pp.

"With our modern world relying more and more on Internet-based technologies, this timely book takes a renewed look at the ever-increasing digital divide between developing and more technologically advanced countries and the resulting impacts on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Jef ... more

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Measuring digital development: The affordability of ICT services 2024

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 27 pp.

"This edition’s findings highlight important progress: in 2024, mobile broadband services have become more affordable in most regions and for most income groups, and a growing number of countries are meeting the Broadband Commission’s target of entry-level broadband services costing less than 2 ... more

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Ericsson Mobility Report

Ericsson (2025), 31 pp.

"We are at an inflection point, where 5G and the ecosystem are set to unleash a wave of innovation. In this Ericsson Mobility Report, we explore how an ecosystem partner is leveraging 5G, network slicing and dynamic Quality of Service (QoS) that will take live broadcasting to a new level, by ensurin ... more

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Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Peru with Long-Distance WiFi

ICTworks, May 13 (2025)

"In the Santiago River Basin of Peru’s Amazonas region, an ambitious initiative is underway to bridge the digital divide and bring reliable internet connectivity to rural communities. The “Connectivity for the Santiago River Basin” project, led by a multi-stakeholder alliance, aims to foster s ... more

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The revised SADC toolkit on universal access funding and universal service fund implementation 2024

Kerron Edmunson

Geneva: ITU (2025), xi, 76 pp.

"In 2011, working with the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA),1 the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in cooperation with the European Commission (EC) published a toolkit on universal access funding and universal service implementation to provide guidance o ... more

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Technical study on telecommunication and ICT infrastructure data, costs and analysis in Nigeria

Geneva: ITU (2025), ix, 72 pp.

"This study analyses the costs of connecting to the Internet and providing Internet services in Nigeria for fibre-optic network connectivity, microwave links, mobile broadband cellular links, and cellular communications. The analysis has focused on the capital expenditure (capex) of telecommunicatio ... more

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Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States
Deep Insights

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 33 pp.

"Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) face unique development challenges. Higher transportation costs, trade barriers, and limited connectivity impede economic integration. LLDCs rely on neighbouring countries for access to trade routes, resulting in delays and higher costs. These countries also ... more

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The Rise of the Network Commons: A History of Community Infrastructure

Armin Medosch

Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures (2025), 107 pp.

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Digitalization in China: Who’s left behind?

Anson Au

Information, Communication & Society, volume 27, issue 6 (2024), pp. 1247-1265

"In an age of digitalization, who still refuses to use digital technology? Drawing on nationally-representative Chinese General Social Survey data, this article finds that about half of Chinese households do not actively use the Internet or epayment systems, despite their ubiquity. This article esti ... more

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Le prix des perturbations: Évaluation de l’impact économique des coupures d’Internet au Sénégal en 2023

Anirudh Tagat, Skyler Sallick

Internews (2024), 25 pp.

"Ce rapport a constaté une baisse vertigineuse de 1,3 point de pourcentage du produit intérieur brut (PIB) global associé aux coupures d’Internet en juin 2023. Cela se traduit grosso modto par une perte de 76,8 millions de dollars américains (46,86 milliards de francs CFA). Cette perte a princ ... ipalement affecté le secteur des services, qui a subi à lui seul une perte de 5,26 millions de dollars américains (3,23 milliards de francs CFA). En outre, les marchés financiers ont subi une grande partie des impacts des interruptions, les résultats suggérant que près de 1,43 milliard de dollars américains (871,5 milliards de francs CFA) ont été perdus en capitalisation boursière pendant la période des coupures d’Internet, ce qui représente près de 12 % de la valeur totale de la BRVM à l’époque. La baisse la plus significative, cependant, semble être tirée par le secteur des exportations, avec une perte substantielle de la valeur des échanges et des volumes qui semblent liés aux coupures d’Internet. Bien que nous ne puissions pas établir de causalité directe, l’analyse des indicateurs économiques complets suggère que la valeur globale des exportations a diminué de 0,6 point de pourcentage, ce qui se traduit par une perte substantielle de près de 2,46 milliards de dollars américains (1,505 trillion de francs CFA). En outre, le volume des exportations du port de Dakar a diminué de 3,93 points de pourcentage, ce qui a entraîné une perte d’environ 42 350 tonnes de marchandises exportées à la suite des coupures d’Internet. Ces résultats suggèrent que les impacts des interruptions ont une grande portée et qu’ils affectent certains secteurs plus que d’autres. Les résultats de l’enquête révèlent que l’interruption des paiements représente un défi important pour une économie confrontée à une coupure d’Internet. Les estimations de l’impact économique des coupures d’Internet sur le secteur financier confirment cet argument. Il est essentiel que la communauté internationale comprenne mieux ces conséquences économiques afin de faire pression sur les gouvernements pour qu’ils cessent d’avoir recours aux coupures d’Internet et qu’ils mettent en place des dispositifs visant à protéger les économies locales contre d’éventuelles perturbations à l’avenir." (Résumè, page 3) more

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Connected Resilience: Gendered Experiences of Meaningful Connectivity through a Global Pandemic

Ingrid Brudvig, Sonia Jorge, Margaret Nyambura Ndung’u

Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (2024), 57 pp.

"Looking at patterns between those with meaningful connectivity — defined as having daily internet use with 4G-like speeds, owning a smartphone, and an unlimited access point at home, work, or a place of study — and those with just basic or no internet access at all, we saw key distinctions betw ... een women based on geography and education in our study sample which impacted their experiences of the internet. Across our six survey countries [Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda], women with a tertiary education were nearly twice as likely to be meaningfully connected compared to their peers with less education. Women living in rural areas were three times more likely to lack internet access than their urban-dwelling peers, while women living in cities were over 50% more likely to have meaningful connectivity. Meaningful connectivity enabled women around the world to learn, earn, access government and financial services, and connect with family and communities, thereby also saving essential time and money in transport costs. Women’s educational level and having meaningful connectivity are the strongest predictors of finding information online or participating in the digital economy. Women int erviewed in underserved localities — such as remote villaes in India and impoverished urban settlements in Nigeria — reported restricted digital access due to: lack of infrastructure (such as mobile towers); high cost of devices and data services; income-generating activities and unpaid care work leave little to no time available to access connectivity or digital skills educational initiatives; dependency on men in their family to use devices [...] We propose four tiers of achievable solutions — and call attention to policymakers, investors, and the ICT sector at large to fast-track meaningful connectivity and inclusive digital development for all: 1. Deep investments that use substantial resourcing to make profound changes in a specific policy area or for a specific community. Universal Service and Access Funds (USAFs) represent a key mechanism across the majority world for deep investment strategies. When well executed, they provide clear interventions with measurable changes in the lives of affected communities. 2. Grand visions that combine years of effort with substantial funding resources to revolutionize the status quo. National broadband plans and other key strategy documents — when appropriately supported and resourced through implementation stages — represent a core example of grand visions within this space. 3. Easy wins that are comparatively discreet and specific changes that can still create tangible value at their scale. Gender data — collecting it, creating it, analyzing it, and using it — is a critical component to several easy wins that have been implemented in recent years. Policymakers can start from this level of research and measurement to make clear steps in the right direction. 4. Scalable systems that represent large, programmatic change in the pre-existing ways of working. Multistakeholder approaches and gender targets can provide the foundation for long-term, ongoing processes that scale progress towards closing the gender digital divide. By using policy and regulation to create mechanisms and procedures that consider digital inclusion, policymakers can build habits and routines that gradually and consistently change the course of history." (Executive summary, pages 2-4) more

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Mirrored Spaces: Social Inequality in the Digital Age

Jörg Scheffer

Wiesbaden: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xvii, 166 pp.

"Contrary to the prevailing narratives of "digital empowerment" and opportunities for every individual, this book argues that digitalisation massively curtails social advancement opportunities, consolidating existing social relations. From a spatial perspective, Scheffer demonstrates how socially di ... more

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The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2024

Matthew Shanahan, Kalvin Bahia

London: GSMA (2024), 91 pp.

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Digital Literacy and Inclusion: Stories, Platforms, Communities

Danica Radovanovic (ed.)

Cham: Springer (2024), xxi, 218 pp.

"More than a dozen experts provide deep insights in stories, research reports, and geographical studies of digital literacy and inclusion models, all from a multi-disciplinary perspective that includes engineering, social sciences, and education. Digital Literacy and Inclusion also highlights a show ... more

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Digital Inclusion: International Policy and Research

Simeon Yates, Elinor Carmi (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xix, 277 pp.

"With a special focus on the impact of the COVID-19, the collection is based on the 2021 Digital Inclusion, Policy and Research Conference, with chapters from both academia and civic organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed citizens' relationship with digital technologies for the foreseeable ... more

Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States Deep Insights

Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States
Deep Insights