A joint article by (this will open in a new window)Dr Joseph Chambers, Digital Inclusion Lead at FarrPoint and (this will open in a new window)Adriana Henao, Director at unconnected.org
Across the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where (this will open in a new window)unconnected.org works, barriers can include unaffordable devices and data, limited locally relevant services and unreliable electricity. In FarrPoint’s UK and Canada work, where connectivity and device ownership are more widespread, digital exclusion often involves a combination of affordability, skills, accessibility, trust and motivation.
These barriers overlap, but their relative importance and the practical steps needed to address them vary between countries and communities. By bringing together our perspectives, we explore what it takes to turn network coverage into meaningful digital inclusion.
In this article, meaningful digital inclusion means more than having a network signal. It means being able to access and afford an appropriate device and service, use them safely and confidently, and gain practical value from being online.
In 2024, around 300 million people (4% of the world’s population) lived beyond the reach of mobile broadband networks (GSMA, 2025). However, the much larger challenge is the usage gap: 3.1 billion people, or 38% of the global population, live within mobile broadband coverage but do not use mobile Internet on their own device.
While both the coverage and usage gaps are narrowing, the scale of the usage gap demonstrates that infrastructure availability alone does not deliver digital inclusion. In LMICs, barriers such as affordability, access to suitable devices, digital skills and the relevance of online services continue to constrain adoption.
Digital exclusion is not confined to developing economies. In the UK, where FarrPoint operates, an estimated 2.2 million adults remain completely offline despite near-universal connectivity, with around two-thirds of this group aged 65 or over (Good Things Foundation, Digital Nation 2026). This highlights the wider challenge of achieving digital inclusion, which requires not only extending network infrastructure, but ensuring that people have the means, skills and confidence to use it.
Image - Mobile internet mast in Northern Cape, SA
Another challenge is network dependability, which is often closely linked to reliable power. In the UK and Canada, power outages are generally isolated incidents rather than an everyday constraint, but they can still disrupt connectivity and access to essential services. More frequent extreme weather can increase the frequency and impact of these disruptions.
In many LMICs, the challenge is more fundamental. According to the 2025 Tracking SDG 7 report, 666 million people lacked access to electricity in 2023, 85% of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. In these contexts, reliable power cannot be assumed, and connectivity programmes need to plan for resilience from the outset. A network without a credible power solution, maintenance plan and budget for ongoing support may be technically deployed, but it is unlikely to remain reliably connected over time.
Whether someone can and wants to use the Internet depends on more than network availability. Affordability, literacy, digital skills, confidence, trust and the relevance of online services can each affect whether people get online and remain connected. Although these barriers manifest differently across countries and communities, they occur worldwide and often reinforce one another.
For many people in LMICs, affordability is a major barrier to getting online. An entry-level Internet-enabled phone costs the equivalent of 16% of average monthly income in these countries. For the poorest 20% of people, the cost rises to 48% of monthly income—before they purchase even a single megabyte of data (GSMA, 2025).
Internet access remains unaffordable in around 60% of LMICs (ITU, Facts and Figures 2025). That measure does not capture the full cost of getting online, which also includes buying a device and obtaining and paying for the electricity needed to charge it.
Other barriers include not knowing how to use the Internet, being unable to read what appears on the screen, not understanding what the Internet can be used for, and concerns about online safety, security or sharing of personal and financial information (GSMA, 2025).
In the UK, affordability manifests differently but remains a genuine barrier. Ofcom found that 5% of households with a mobile phone (around 1.5 million households) had difficulty affording their mobile service. Among households struggling to afford communications services, 55% also struggled with essentials such as food or energy, a trade-off often framed as “(this will open in a new window)data or dinner” (UK Data Poverty Org). Affordability is not the only barrier: 8 million people in the UK lack the basic digital skills required to get and stay online (Good Things Foundation, Digital Nation 2026).
Building connectivity infrastructure is only the first step. Connectivity programmes must also enable people to adopt and continue using the service, and to derive meaningful economic and social value from it. This challenge exists in the UK and Canada as well as across LMICs, although the barriers and appropriate responses differ between contexts.
FarrPoint’s research found that, although 70% of UK local authorities want to measure the economic or social impact of connectivity, 90% do not currently do so. This illustrates a wider measurement gap: connectivity programmes often track outputs such as infrastructure delivered but are less consistent in assessing the economic and social outcomes that follow.
In LMICs, meaningful outcomes are harder to achieve and measure where affordability constraints, unreliable power, limited digital skills, low trust, a lack of relevant content in local languages and limited access to useful services constrain adoption. A network may therefore be technically available without being used consistently or delivering meaningful benefits.
Both FarrPoint and unconnected.org therefore argue that connectivity programmes should define and integrate measures of adoption and outcomes from the outset, rather than treating them as post-deployment considerations.
This means understanding local demand, defining success measures, creating the conditions for sustained use and agreeing in advance how outcomes will be measured. FarrPoint contributes expertise in policy, planning and evidence, while unconnected.org coordinates the market by aggregating demand, negotiating access and connecting buyers with local community builders. Together, these capabilities can help make connectivity viable in places that the market would otherwise price out.
The sector therefore needs to move beyond measuring success only in terms of coverage, sites built or premises passed. The remaining coverage gap still matters, particularly because it is concentrated in some of the hardest and most expensive places to reach, but closing that gap alone will not guarantee meaningful participation. Success should ultimately be judged by whether connectivity is adopted and sustained, and whether it enables people and communities to participate more fully in education, healthcare, employment, public services and the wider digital economy.
AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the digital inclusion debate. Its potential to widen or reduce existing inequalities was a central topic at the (this will open in a new window)Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation’s recent anniversary conference in London, attended by FarrPoint.
Many panellists raised concerns that AI could widen the digital divide. Countries and communities with a smaller online presence may be under-represented in the data used to train large language models (LLMs), making AI tools less responsive to their languages, cultures and local needs and limiting their ability to benefit from the technology.
The challenge extends beyond representation in training data. Reliable connectivity, affordable devices and the skills needed to use AI effectively all influence who can access its benefits. As AI becomes embedded in everyday services, education and work, people who already face barriers to getting online risk falling further behind.
This makes digital inclusion an important part of the AI conversation. Alongside improving access and skills, we need to consider whose knowledge and experiences are represented in these tools. Without that focus, AI risks reinforcing the inequalities that digital technology should help address.
Closing the digital divide requires more than extending coverage. It requires programmes designed around adoption, sustained use and measurable outcomes. FarrPoint can help organisations assess the requirements, costs and likely benefits of digital inclusion before investment begins. unconnected.org can help partners, integrators and foundations extend meaningful connectivity into underserved communities by connecting demand with appropriate delivery partners. If you are planning a connectivity programme, get in touch to discuss how these complementary capabilities could support it.
What is digital exclusion?
Digital exclusion is being unable to participate in digitally mediated life, even where an Internet connection is technically available. It includes people with no access at all and the larger group who have coverage but lack the device, skills, affordability or trust to use it.
What is the difference between the coverage gap and the usage gap?
The coverage gap is the population with no mobile broadband network available, around 300 million people in 2024. The usage gap is the population living inside coverage that does not use mobile Internet, 3.1 billion people, or 38% of the world (GSMA, 2025).
Why do people with Internet coverage still not use the Internet?
Common reasons include limited digital skills and literacy, the cost of a handset, and low awareness of how the Internet could be useful. Safety concerns, language barriers, and services that require an identity document or bank account can also keep people offline (GSMA, 2025).
Is digital exclusion only a problem in low-income countries?
No. Although 96% of the offline population lives in low- and middle-income countries (ITU, Facts and Figures 2025), digital exclusion also persists in highly connected countries. For example, in the UK, 2.2 million adults are completely offline and 8 million lack basic digital skills (Good Things Foundation, Digital Nation 2026).
What is meaningful connectivity?
Meaningful connectivity is regular Internet use on an appropriate device, with enough data and a fast enough connection, in a safe environment. ITU and its partners use it as the standard behind the universal and meaningful connectivity targets for 2030.
How can a connectivity programme make sure people actually come online?
Budget the full cost, including devices, power, maintenance and skills support. Deliver through local operators who run the last mile. Anchor the connection to a service people already need. Agree the adoption measures before the build starts, not after.
* According to GSMA’s The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2025
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