The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Monday, announced over $9 billion in investment commitments from mobile operator groups to extend global connectivity.
The announcement, made at Mobile World Congress (MWC), builds on the mobile industry’s strong support to ITU’s efforts to connect the world.
Alongside the new commitments, the UN Digital Agency also announced that it now has over 1,000 industry, academia and organisational members in addition to its 193 member states. This milestone marks the largest, most diverse membership in the agency’s history.
The new industry commitments raise to over $46 billion the total current value of planned investment in infrastructure, services and support to ITU’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition since the platform opened in March 2022.
ITU secretary-general, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, in a press statement, made available to NATIONAL ECONOMY, said, “Universal meaningful connectivity is within our grasp. Thanks to these new commitments, millions of people will benefit from accessible and affordable connectivity across the world.”
For instance, there was a pledged $6 billion between 2024 and 2026 for accessible and affordable network connectivity and digital services across countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia; China Telecom pledged over $1.4 billion to rollout fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), providing high-quality information and communication services to over 80 million people in remote administrative villages across China.
Ooredoo pledged $1.1 billion for connectivity in the developing markets ranging from North Africa to the Indian Ocean and VEON pledged $600 million in building the infrastructure of Ukraine, providing connectivity and digital services essential to the reconstruction of the country.
The chief regulatory officer, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), John Giusti, reacted that, “I applaud the ITU Secretary-General’s focus on the importance of infrastructure investment to enable the digital economy.
“Mobile operators continuously invest in deploying and upgrading their networks, delivering benefits to citizens in all corners of the globe. I congratulate e&, China Telecom, Ooredoo and VEON on their investment pledges. I am encouraged that MWC is the event of choice for such commitments and for collaboration between the public and private sectors.”
According to data from ITU, 2.6 billion people remain offline worldwide. As telecommunications infrastructure forms the backbone of connectivity and digital transformation, it is vital for closing that global digital divide and overcoming development impediments in areas from education and health to government services and trade.
ITU has called for $100 billion in overall investments by 2026 to provide the expertise and resources required to extend universal, meaningful connectivity and sustainable digital transformation to every corner of the globe.
