Invisible Giant
The internet became a majority-human experience on a phone bought in the Global South.
The internet became a majority-human experience on a phone bought in the Global South.
Mobile internet users crossed 4.7 billion people in 2024, and smartphone ownership passed half of everyone alive at 4.3 billion. Around 3.3 billion of those connected sit in low- and middle-income countries, where nearly all of the recent growth is happening. The remaining gap is now about affordability and skills, not towers: 96 in 100 people already live under coverage, while 58 in 100 use it.
The next billion come online through a handset, and they arrive from the Global South.
This is the infrastructure that connects the Global South.