GSMA Warns Of Emerging Global AI Divide

The world risks creating a new global divide between AI “haves” and “have-nots,” warns GSMA. Not unless urgent action is taken to address the digital divide and make smartphones affordable for billions of people in low- and middle-income countries.

AI may be transforming economies and societies, but its incredible benefits will remain out of reach for more than 3.4 billion people who still do not use mobile internet. This, despite more than 90 per cent of them already living within mobile broadband coverage. Without affordable smartphones, these people will remain unable to benefit from the AI revolution, stated GSMA during its launch of the State of Mobile Internet Connectivity (SOMIC) Report 2026.

The report highlights a growing threat to digital inclusion: a sharp increase in the cost of smartphone memory and chipsets, driven by global demand for AI infrastructure and data centres. These rising component costs are already feeding through into entry-level smartphone prices, placing internet access further beyond the reach of low-income consumers and threatening years of progress in closing the mobile usage gap.

The GSMA is calling on chipset and memory manufacturers to take meaningful steps to increase availability of affordable components for entry-level handsets, in order to avoid a large portion of the population in emerging economies behind completely left out of the digital economy. They further encourage these companies to enter in a dialogue with the wider mobile ecosystem, policymakers and multilateral financial institutions to identify solutions and bring affordable connectivity within reach of millions.

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA said it best. “AI has the potential to improve lives on an unprecedented scale, but AI is meaningless if people cannot get online in the first place. The greatest risk is not simply an AI divide between countries, but between people who can afford to participate in the digital economy and those who cannot,” adding that “Unless we protect the affordability of entry-level smartphones, billions of people risk being excluded from the next generation of digital services before they have even had the opportunity to experience the internet.”

Current memory price increases make this a clear and present danger. “Preventing that outcome requires coordinated action from policymakers, mobile operators, device manufacturers and component suppliers alike. We call upon all parties to mobilise all possible tools, both on the production side and on the distribution and taxation areas, and to take measures to ease reuse of devices,” underscored Badrinath.

The Numbers Behind The Story 

The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2026 shows that 4.8 billion people now use mobile internet on their own device. Even so, growth is slowing. Around 160 million people came online in 2025, down from 190 million the previous year, while 3.1 billion people continue to live within the footprint of mobile broadband networks but do not use mobile internet, hence the “usage gap”. The majority of this group still does not own an internet-enabled device.

The report identifies handset affordability as the single biggest barrier to mobile internet adoption across surveyed low- and middle-income countries, followed by a lack of digital skills. By the end of 2025, an entry-level internet-enabled handset cost the poorest 20 per cent of people in LMICs the equivalent of 44 per cent of their average monthly income, rising to 76 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa with these costs expected to dramatically rise due to increases in memory costs.

Until a year ago, reducing the price of entry-level smartphones to $30 could make devices affordable for almost 1.6 billion people, while reaching a $20 price point could make them affordable for around 2.2 billion people currently living within mobile broadband coverage. However, the report warns that, despite the efforts of operators and manufacturers, including the GSMA’s own Handset Affordability Coalition, achieving those price points is today out of reach as memory costs continue to rise. Previous GSMA analysis estimates that closing the mobile usage gap would generate $3.5 trillion in additional GDP between 2023 and 2030, with more than 90 per cent of those benefits flowing to low- and middle-income countries.