Internet access is now a practical gateway to information, education, work opportunities, public and financial services, health care, and communication. That makes it more than a convenience for many people—but it does not mean that every service is online or that a connection alone guarantees access. A network must reach people, and they need an affordable service, a suitable device, usable connection quality, and the skills and relevant content to make it work for them.
What makes internet access a necessity?
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s Working Group on Smartphone Access puts the case plainly: “Digital connectivity is a necessity, not a luxury.” Its reasoning is practical: connectivity can help people reach services and opportunities that increasingly use the internet as part of how they are delivered.
Information, education, and work
An internet connection can provide access to information and e-learning, and can help people find employment opportunities or work remotely where their jobs permit it. These are routes to participation, not guarantees: a connection does not create a job, replace every classroom, or make every task possible online.
Health, public, and financial services
Health care, public services, and financial services are among the areas where internet access is used to deliver or support services. The practical value depends on what is available locally and whether a person can use it. In-person or offline options remain important for people who lack a reliable connection, an appropriate device, or the skills required by a digital service.
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Communication and resilience
Connectivity supports communication and can be part of disaster recovery. It can help people receive information and stay in contact, but its usefulness during an emergency depends on networks and power remaining available and on people having a way to connect.
Billions remain offline, despite widespread connectivity
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population were online in 2025, while 2.2 billion people remained offline; most of those offline were in low- and middle-income countries. Those global estimates show both how widely the internet is used and why access cannot yet be treated as universal.
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The previous year’s figures make the scale of the divide clearer. In its 2024 estimate, ITU counted 5.5 billion people online, or 68% of the global population, and 2.6 billion offline, or 32%. These are 2024 figures, not a breakdown of the 2025 estimate.
Being covered is not the same as having usable access
Network coverage answers whether a signal or network reaches an area. It does not answer whether an individual can afford to connect or do what they need once connected. ITU’s 2025 summary describes mobile broadband coverage as nearly universal while noting persistent quality and affordability gaps. It also says 5G reaches more than half the global population, with coverage concentrated in high-income countries.
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Meaningful access depends on several conditions working together:
- Affordable service: The cost of a suitable plan and data must fit a person’s budget. ITU estimated that a fixed-broadband subscription in low-income countries cost nearly one-third of average monthly income in 2024.
- A suitable device: A phone or computer must support the tasks a person needs to complete. The Broadband Commission identifies handset cost as one barrier to smartphone access.
- Reliable, adequate-quality connection: A connection may technically exist but still be too slow, inconsistent, or limited for a particular task.
- Power and practical access: Charging costs and the availability of devices and services through distribution channels can affect whether people can get online consistently.
- Skills and relevant content: People need basic digital skills and content they can understand and use, including relevant local-language material.
- Taxes and duties: These can add to the cost of devices and connectivity.
Buying a smartphone by itself does not solve the access problem: the user also needs mobile-network availability and an affordable service plan. The same principle applies to any access device—equipment, service, quality, and usability all matter.
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Global averages hide sharp access gaps
ITU’s 2024 estimates show that internet use differed substantially by income level, location, and gender. These are estimates for 2024; they should not be read as 2025 subgroup results.
| Group | Estimated internet use in 2024 |
|---|---|
| High-income countries | 93% |
| Low-income countries | 27% |
| Urban dwellers | 83% |
| Rural dwellers | 48% |
| Men worldwide | 70% |
| Women worldwide | 65% |
The gaps matter because a global total can improve while people in lower-income countries, rural communities, and other underserved groups remain much less likely to use the internet. ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said in a 27 November 2024 release: “The world is inching towards universal access at a time that it should be sprinting.”
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What can help close the access gap?
There is no single fix, because barriers differ by place and household. The Broadband Commission discusses several policy options, including device financing, changes to tax policy, and improvements to distribution channels. These are possible ways to reduce specific obstacles, not proven universal solutions.
Efforts to expand access are more useful when they consider the whole experience: the total cost of a device and service, data and charging; whether coverage and connection quality support people’s actual tasks; whether users have the necessary skills and relevant content; and whether rural, low-income, and otherwise underserved groups can benefit. Extending a network is important, but access is incomplete if people cannot afford to use it or cannot use it effectively.
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