According to a recent report by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Bangladesh trails behind nine out of 12 lower-middle-income countries in terms of smartphone ownership and mobile internet usage. The report, titled “The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2024”, was published in October and focuses on mobile internet usage in 12 lower-middle-income nations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The findings highlight that only 41% of urban residents and 26% of rural residents in Bangladesh use smartphones. Bangladesh is outperformed by countries like Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Mexico. Only Ethiopia and Uganda perform worse than Bangladesh in this area.
The country also lags in mobile internet usage, with only 43% of urban residents and 27% of rural residents accessing mobile internet. Daily internet usage is reported at 40% in cities and 24% in rural areas, with Ethiopia being the only country with lower usage.
While most people in Bangladesh are aware of mobile internet, many do not use it, citing digital literacy and skills as major barriers. Urban users are concerned about safety, while rural users face affordability issues. Smartphone costs are a significant barrier for 11% of rural and 8% of urban users. Additionally, 28% of urban and 19% of rural users cannot access mobile internet due to illiteracy.
For existing users, the high cost of data is the primary obstacle, followed by a lack of time. Despite some progress, awareness of mobile internet has only slightly increased from 72% in 2019 to 75% in 2023, according to the GSMA report.
