By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
The GSMA
has warned that the world risks creating a new divide between AI “haves” and
“have-nots” unless urgent action is taken to make smartphones more affordable
and expand meaningful access to mobile internet.
Launching
its State of Mobile Internet Connectivity (SOMIC) Report 2026 in New York on
September 15, the GSMA said more than 3.4 billion people still do not use
mobile internet, despite more than 90 percent of them living within areas
covered by mobile broadband networks.
The
organisation said the lack of affordable smartphones could prevent billions of
people in low- and middle-income countries from participating in the emerging
AI economy. It identified handset affordability as the biggest barrier to
mobile internet adoption across surveyed low- and middle-income countries,
followed by a lack of digital skills.
The report
found that 4.8 billion people now use mobile internet on their own devices, but
growth is slowing. About 160 million people came online in 2025, down from 190
million in the previous year, while 3.1 billion people continue to live within
mobile broadband coverage without using mobile internet, representing the
so-called usage gap.
According
to the GSMA, the majority of people in the usage gap still do not own an
internet-enabled device. By the end of 2025, an entry-level internet-enabled
handset cost the poorest 20 percent of people in low- and middle-income
countries the equivalent of 44 percent of their average monthly income. In
Sub-Saharan Africa, the figure rose to 76 percent.
The GSMA
said the affordability challenge is being compounded by rising costs of
smartphone memory and chipsets, driven by global demand for AI infrastructure
and data centres. Memory prices more than doubled between the third quarter of
2025 and the first quarter of 2026 before rising by a further 80–90 percent in
the second quarter of 2026, according to GSMA analysis and Counterpoint
Research data.
The rising
component costs are already affecting entry-level smartphone prices, with the
GSMA warning that global smartphone shipments could experience their largest
annual decline on record, driven primarily by a collapse in the sub-$100
handset segment. Emerging markets are expected to be among the hardest hit.
GSMA
Director General Vivek Badrinath said artificial intelligence could improve
lives on an unprecedented scale, but its benefits would remain limited if
people could not get online in the first place.
“The
greatest risk is not simply an AI divide between countries, but between people
who can afford to participate in the digital economy and those who cannot,”
Badrinath said.
He called
for coordinated action from policymakers, mobile operators, device
manufacturers and component suppliers to protect the affordability of
entry-level smartphones. He also urged stakeholders to explore measures across
production, distribution and taxation, as well as initiatives that could
support greater reuse of devices.
The GSMA
said that until recently, reducing the price of entry-level smartphones to $30
could have made devices affordable for almost 1.6 billion people, while a $20
price point could have reached around 2.2 billion people living within mobile
broadband coverage. However, rising memory costs have made achieving those
price points increasingly difficult.
The
organisation is calling on chipset and memory manufacturers to increase the
availability of affordable components for entry-level handsets and engage with
the wider mobile ecosystem, policymakers and multilateral financial
institutions to identify solutions.
The
affordability challenge threatens not only digital inclusion but also the
economic gains associated with wider internet adoption. Previous GSMA analysis
estimates that closing the mobile usage gap could generate $3.5 trillion in
additional GDP between 2023 and 2030, with more than 90 percent of the benefits
flowing to low- and middle-income countries.
The GSMA
said improving handset affordability must be accompanied by efforts to address
other barriers to digital inclusion, including low literacy and digital skills,
safety and security concerns, and the availability of relevant content and
services.
As
governments and businesses increasingly deploy AI-enabled services across
healthcare, education, financial services and public services, the GSMA said
affordable access to smartphones and mobile internet is becoming an essential
prerequisite for ensuring that the benefits of the AI revolution are available
to everyone.
