of respondents are concerned about their online privacy, with over half (53%) stating
they are more concerned than a year ago.
Online threats are particularly acute for women. In the US alone, 75% of victims of cyber
stalking are women, and women are far more likely to be sexually harassed online than
men.
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF BROADBAND
A landmark analysis by ITU shows that mobile broadband appears to have a higher
economic impact than fixed broadband, and that the impact is greater in less developed
countries than in more developed countries.
Globally an increase of 10% in fixed broadband penetration yields an increase of 0.8% in
GDP, and an increase of 10% in mobile broadband penetration yields an increase of 1.5%
in GDP. However, in more developed countries, the economic impact of fixed broadband
is greater than in less developed countries.
A follow-up ITU study focusing on the Africa region suggests a 10% increase in mobile
broadband penetration in Africa would yield an increase of 2.5% of GDP per capita.
CHRONIC BARRIERS TO ACCESS
A total of 43.5% respondents in low-income countries have pointed to poor connectivity
as a barrier when trying to use the internet, compared to only 34.6% of those in upper
middle-income and 25% in high-income.
In 2018, the ‘rural mobile internet gap’ was 40% in low- and middle-income countries;
those living in rural areas were 40% less likely to use the mobile internet than those in
urban areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rural-urban gap is 58%.
At least 1.3 billion people are living in countries where entry-level mobile data plans (of
1GB per month) are not affordable (see Broadband Commission Target 2 below for
definition of affordability).
A PERSISTENT DIGITAL GENDER DIVIDE
Gaps in access to the internet by the sexes appear to be narrowing slightly at a global level.
There are a few countries where more women than men are participating online, such as
in Argentina, China, Ireland and the Philippines.
However, at the country level, the digital gender divide is widest where mobile adoption
is the lowest; across 10 countries in Africa, Asia and South America, women were found
to be 30-50% less likely than men to use the internet to participate in public life.
80% of women in low- and middle-income countries own a mobile phone (including basic
2G phones), and 48% use mobile internet. That said, globally women are 23% less likely
than men to use mobile internet. This gap is widest in South Asia, where women are 58%
less likely to use mobile internet than men, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, where women
are 41% less likely.
For years, the digital gender divide was assumed to be symptomatic of technical
challenges: The thinking was that women would catch up with men when the world had
cheaper devices and lower connectivity prices, due to the limited purchasing power and