Over 1.7 billion females in low- and middle-income countries do not own mobile phones, said GSMA in its latest report.
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“By addressing the gender gap in mobile phone ownership and use, we will deliver substantial benefits for women, the mobile industry and the broader economy,” said Anne Bouverot, director general, GSMA.
Women on average are 14 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than men, creating a gender gap of 200 million fewer women than men owning mobile phones.
Women in South Asia are 38 percent less likely to own a phone than men. Even when women own mobile phones, women use phones less frequently than men, especially for more sophisticated services such as mobile internet. Fewer women than men who own phones report using messaging and data services beyond voice.
The top five barriers to women owning and using mobile phones from a customer perspective are cost; network quality and coverage; security and harassment via mobile; operator or agent trust; and technical literacy and confidence issues.
The GSMA report says that achieving parity in ownership and use between men and women in low- and middle-income countries could bring socio-economic benefits, such as the availability of new education and employment opportunities, to an additional 200 million women; unlock an estimated US $170 billion market opportunity for the mobile industry by 2020.
editor@telecomlead.com
