IDSC: 3 MM Users Still Not Connected to Internet In Developing Countries

The Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) issued a new report that highlights the most prominent points addressed by the World Bank (WB) in its analysis of the state of digital technology globally and in developing countries, especially in Egypt and the African states.

In spite of the increase in the number of digital technology users to 5 billion users globally, 3 million users are still not connected to the Internet, and 96% of them live in developing countries, the report said.

Nearly 39% or more of beneficiaries in countries use digital identifications and databases for government payments.

In Africa, 27% of the African population does not use mobile Internet services, despite its availability for 83% of them, and 40% of the fiber-optic networks extending over more than 400,000 km are owned by governments and are not fully exploited, the report noted.

The report also indicated that in order to bridge this gap, there are 3 main obstacles that must be solved: the cost of Internet services and their provision to all, the skills that people need to use digital technologies, and finally, building trust and security.

In a previous report, IDSC said that Egypt has the highest broadband speed across Africa, noting that there has been an increase in the use of mobile Internet services in Egypt by 68% in light of the increase in the number of mobile Internet users by 11 million users during the holy month of Ramadan.

The report also showed an increase in the use of fixed Internet services by 39% in light of the increase in the number of fixed Internet users by 980 thousand users.

Moreover, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority noted that the average of highest daily used activities is 3.5 million hours per day of short entertainment videos posted.

It mentioned that 12.9 million hours watched entertainment content, +76%, and 181 million online shopping visits, +47%.

Notably, the number of internet users in Egypt reached 33.19 million in April 2017, according to Egypt's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.