The ITU recently announced a fundraising effort to raise $100 billion by 2026 to fund solutions to the lack of affordable Internet access in the least developed countries (LDCs). The Internet Society has noted that nearly three billion people are being left behind as they are living without access to the Internet. Of the world’s 46 LDCs, the Internet is considered to be affordable in just two of them. Yet access to the Internet is considered critical to the sustainable development of LDCs.

One solution to the digital divide could be broadband provision to homes and businesses using low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Many mobile network operators are also entering into partnerships with LEO operators to provide 5G satellite to mobile phone services in hard-to-reach areas.

An alternative to non-terrestrial networks is fixed wireless access (FWA) using 4G (LTE) or 5G technology. However, currently, 5G FWA services are mainly limited to more prosperous areas such as the USA and Europe. In a recent survey, a 5G FWA service in Norway was found to provide the highest download speeds in Europe with speeds of over one gigabit per second. So, ironically, such new technologies are currently further increasing the gap between developed and least developed economies.

Apart from the infrastructure necessary for broadband and mobile provision, training those who will build and maintain those networks is also important. PTT offers a range of online courses covering LEO and 4G/5G FWA and mobile services.