Access to and use of ICTs

International Telecommunication Union

doi:http://handle.itu.int/11.1002/pub/813cee7c-084b80d9-en

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and ICTs

Mid-Term Review of the Samoa Pathway

This document reviews progress in access to affordable and modern digital technologies since the 2014 Samoa conference on SIDS. It was prepared as an input document to the September 2019 high-level meeting to review progress made in addressing the priorities of SIDS through implementation of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway. It provides examples to demonstrate progress made, showing how SIDS are using ICTs to help drive sustainable development, and includes a framework for tracking progress towards a universal and affordable Internet.

English

http://handle.itu.int/11.1002/pub/813cee7c-en

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Chapter

Access to and use of ICTs

Basic ICTs, particularly wireless technologies, have proliferated throughout the SIDS. Already at the time of the 2014 Samoa summit, potential access to mobile communications was high in most SIDS, with basic mobile coverage nearly ubiquitous, and by 2018 second generation (2G) mobile population coverage in the SIDS was 94 per cent, close to the world average. In over half the SIDS, mobile phone availability in households exceeds 90 per cent2, and in just six it is less than 75 per cent (Table 2-1). In contrast, fixed-telephone penetration in the SIDS was just 14 per 100 inhabitants in 2017.