The world has nearly finished building mobile networks. It has not finished getting people onto them. According to the GSMA, 96% of humanity now lives within reach of a mobile internet signal, yet 3.4 billion people do not use mobile internet at all. This report looks at who they are, why satellites alone will not bring them online, and why the oldest mobile channel, the text message, is still the only way to reach many of them.
Key findings
1. The gap is not where you think
For two decades the digital-divide debate was about masts and cables. The GSMA’s State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2025 shows that the problem has moved. In 2024, 4.7 billion people (58% of the world) used mobile internet, 200 million more than a year before. But 3.1 billion people, 38% of the world, lived under a signal and did not use it, while only about 300 million lived with no coverage [1][2].
The world’s 8.1 billion people and mobile internet, 2024
GSMA estimates. Shares of global population.
The usage gap has been shrinking: from 49% of the world in 2015 to 40% in 2023 and 38% in 2024 [2]. But the pace is slowing, and the people still offline are the hardest to reach: rural, poorer, older, more likely to be women and less likely to read well. The GSMA estimates that closing the usage gap would add US$3.5 trillion to global GDP by 2030 [2].
The usage gap is closing slowly
Share of world population covered by mobile internet but not using it.
2. Price is still the wall
The Broadband Commission’s target is that a basic mobile data plan should cost less than 2% of average monthly income. Globally the median plan met that in 2025, at 1.4% of income per head, down from 1.5% [3]. The global median hides the extremes. A 2025 ITU report covered by TechAfrica News found that in nine out of ten low-income countries, a 5 GB plan costs more than 10% of average monthly income [4]. Add the price of a smartphone, which can equal several months’ wages for the poorest households, and the usage gap makes sense.
What a mobile data plan costs, as a share of monthly income
Target and global median from ITU 2025; low-income figure is the threshold exceeded in 9 of 10 low-income countries for a 5 GB plan.
3. Will satellites fix it?
Low-orbit satellite internet is the most visible new answer. Starlink is now live in about 26 African markets, with roughly 300,000 customers on the continent, and Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Zambia account for about two-thirds of them [5]. In Kenya, the Communications Authority counted 27,616 Starlink subscribers in June 2026, up from 17,425 a year earlier, about 1% of the fixed internet market [6]. Hardware prices have fallen sharply since the 2023 launch.
That is a real change for schools, clinics, lodges and small businesses beyond the fibre. But satellites mainly close the coverage gap, which is the smaller problem. The 3.1 billion people under a signal who do not use it are held back by the cost of devices and data, by literacy and by not seeing a reason to go online. A dish does not solve any of those. The next step, satellites that talk directly to ordinary phones, is starting with text messaging first, which says a lot about what works on the margins.
4. Reaching the people who are offline
For a government, a bank, a hospital or a retailer, the practical question is simple: how do you reach someone who has a phone but not the internet? The answer, across Africa, South Asia and much of Latin America, is still SMS and USSD. Both work on the cheapest handset, on 2G, without a data bundle, and without installing anything. A message sent to everyone reaches the 58% online and the 38% who are not.
| Channel | Needs data? | Works on basic phone? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS | No | Yes | Alerts, reminders, receipts, OTPs |
| USSD | No | Yes | Menus, balances, surveys |
| Voice / IVR | No | Yes | Low-literacy audiences |
| WhatsApp / apps | Yes | No | Rich media, chat with connected users |
Read more in our explainer What is USSD? and our comparison of SMS and WhatsApp for business in Kenya.
Methodology
Connectivity figures are GSMA estimates for end-2024, published September 2025. Affordability figures are from the ITU’s 2025 price-basket work; the ITU changed its methodology in 2025, so earlier years are not directly comparable. Starlink figures come from Space in Africa and Kenya’s Communications Authority as reported by Capital FM. The low-income bar in the affordability chart shows a threshold (more than 10%), not an exact value.
Sources
- GSMA, The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2025. gsma.com
- GSMA press release, “More than 3 billion people remain offline despite available mobile internet services”, September 2025. gsma.com
- ITU, Facts and Figures 2025: Affordability. itu.int
- TechAfrica News, “ITU report: meaningful connectivity remains out of reach for two-thirds of Africa’s population”. techafricanews.com
- Space in Africa, “Starlink expands to 26 African markets”. spaceinafrica.com
- Capital FM, “Starlink adds 10,191 customers in Kenya, market share hits 1pc”. capitalfm.africa
Frequently asked questions
How many people do not use mobile internet?
About 3.4 billion at end-2024; 3.1 billion of them live under a signal (GSMA).
Will Starlink close the gap?
It closes the coverage gap, but most offline people already have a signal and are held back by device and data costs.