GSMA report: Mobile ownership and mobile Internet use for women improves significantly

The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) released its 2019 Gender Gap Mobile Report which hinges on 20 000 face-to-face surveys commissioned by GSMA Intelligence across 18 low and middle-income countries. According to the report, 80% of women in low and middle-income countries own mobile devices. And, 48% of those women use mobile to get internet access. ‘We are seeing significantly increased mobile access for women, however in an increasingly connected world, women are still being left behind,’ noted Mats Granryd, Director General of GSMA. ‘While mobile connectivity is spreading quickly, it is not spreading equally. Unequal access to mobile technology threatens to exacerbate the inequalities women already experience.’ Such inequality is attributed to affordability, literacy and digital skills, a perceived lack of relevance, and safety and security. The study suggests that closing the gender gaps in low and middle-income countries could be an important commercial opportunity for the mobile industry since it could provide an estimated additional US$140 billion in revenue to the over the next five years.