Closing the digital divide in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

ClosingthedigitaldivideinCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus TheGSMAisaglobalorganisationunifyingthemobileecosystemtodiscover,developanddeliverinnovationfoundationaltopositivebusinessenvironmentsandsocietalchange.Ourvisionistounlockthefullpowerofconnectivitysothatpeople,industryandsocietythrive.Representingmobileoperatorsandorganisationsacrossthemobileecosystemandadjacentindustries,theGSMAdeliversforitsmembersacrossthreebroadpillars:ConnectivityforGood,IndustryServicesandSolutions,andOutreach.Thisactivityincludesadvancingpolicy,tacklingtoday’sbiggestsocietalchallenges,underpinningthetechnologyandinteroperabilitythatmakemobilework,andprovidingtheworld’slargestplatformtoconvenethemobileecosystemattheMWCandM360seriesofevents. Weinviteyoutofindoutmoreatgsma.com FollowtheGSMAonTwitter:@GSMA GSMAIntelligenceisthedefinitivesourceofglobalmobileoperatordata,analysisandforecasts,andpublisherofauthoritativeindustryreportsandresearch.Ourdatacoverseveryoperatorgroup,networkandMVNOineverycountryworldwide–fromAfghanistantoZimbabwe.Itisthemostaccurateandcompletesetofindustrymetricsavailable,comprisingtensofmillionsofindividualdatapoints,updateddaily. GSMAIntelligenceisreliedonbyleadingoperators,vendors,regulators,financialinstitutionsandthird-partyindustryplayers,tosupportstrategicdecision-makingandlong-terminvestmentplanning.Thedataisusedasanindustryreferencepointandisfrequentlycitedbythemediaandbytheindustryitself. Ourteamofanalystsandexpertsproduceregularthought-leadingresearchreportsacrossarangeofindustrytopics. www.gsmaintelligence.cominfo@gsmaintelligence.com Contents Executivesummary3 1Digitaltransformationtrends8 1.1Governmentsoutlinedigitaltransformationambitions9 1.2Connectivityasakeyenablerofdigitaltransformation11 2Theconnectivitylandscape12 2.1Mobileconnectivityisthedominantformofinternetaccess13 2.24Gadoptionisgrowing,but5Gisonthehorizon14 2.3Smartphoneadoptionisrising17 3Thedigitaldivide18 3.1Understandingthedigitaldivide19 3.2Addressingthedigitaldivide20 4Policiestoclosethedigitaldivide26 4.1Facilitatinginfrastructurerollout27 Authors KenechiOkeleke,Director,Regional,SocialandPolicyResearch,GSMAIntelligenceSayaliBorole,SeniorAnalyst,GSMAIntelligence Contributors TairIsmailov,StrategicEngagementDirector,GSMAEuropeVitalyKhomenko,GeneralDirector,UbiquitousWirelessLLPVadimPoskakukhin,TechnicalDirector,UbiquitousWirelessLLP UbiquitousWirelessLLP,aconsultingfirmwithvastexperienceandexpertiseinspectrummanagement,ICTpolicyandotherrelatedareasacrosstheCommonwealthofIndependentStatesandotheremergingmarkets,contributedtotheresearch(primaryandsecondary)forthisreport.TheGSMAisgratefulfortheirsupport. Copyright©2023GSMA 4.2Stimulatingmobileinternetdemand32 Executivesummary Mobileconnectivityisattheheartofdigitalisationambitions TheCovid-19pandemichasdemonstratedthatdigitalisationcansignificantlyimproveaccesstoservicesandexpandopportunities,particularlyforotherwiseexcludedpopulationgroups.Againstthisbackdrop,countriesinCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus1areundergoingadigitalrevolution,drivenbyambitiousgovernmentdigitaltransformationinitiativesandageneraltrendtowardsgreaterdigitalisation,spurredbythepandemic.Atbothnationalandregionallevels,governmentshavemadecommitmentstofast-trackthedigitaltransformationofkeysectorsoftheeconomyandwidersociety. Digitalconnectivityisfundamentaltotherealisationofthedigitaltransformationplansofgovernments,suchasinCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus.It isthebasisforcreatinganddistributinginnovativedigitalsolutionsand,perhapsmoreimportantly,thechannelforcitizenstointeractwiththesociety aroundtheminadigitalenvironment.Theprofoundimplicationsofdigitalisationforthewaypeoplelive,workandsocialisehighlighttheriskofexclusionfromvitalservicesforunconnectedpopulations.Asaresult,closingthedigitaldivide–andbyextension,ensuringthatnooneisleftbehindintheemergingdigitaleconomy–hasneverbeenmoreimportant. MobiletechnologyhasbeenfundamentaltoexpandingconnectivityacrossCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus MobiletechnologyhasbeenfundamentaltoexpandingconnectivityacrossCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus.Thisisbasedonthecapabilityofwirelessnetworkstocoverawideareawithgreaterefficiencythanmanyothertechnologies. Thisisespeciallytrueindevelopingregionswithunderdevelopedfixednetworkinfrastructureandrelativelylowlevelsofurbanisation.AcrossCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasus,morethan 40%ofthepopulationonaverageliveinrural,andoftenmountainous,areas.Insuchplaces,mobileconnectivityistypicallythefirst,andoftenonly,formofaccesstointernetconnectivitybecauseoflimitedfixedbroadbandinfrastructureandthecostsassociatedwithdeploymentinruralenvironments. ThemobilelandscapeinCentralAsiaandtheSouthCaucasusisdiverse.4GisnowthedominanttechnologyinAzerbaijanandKazakhstan,but3Gstillaccountsforaroundathirdormoreoftotalconnectionsacrosstheothermarkets.The5G eraisstillinitsinfancy,relativetomoreadvancedmarketsinEurope,theGulfregion,NorthAmericaandNortheastAsia.AsofApril2023,commercial5Gservicewasavailableinonlythreecountries:Kazakhstan,TajikistanandUzbekistan.Howe