GSMA World Mobile Connectivity Index

The GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index is an analytical tool that measures the performance of 134 countries, representing 95% of the World’s population, against the four key enablers of mobile internet adoption:

• Infrastructure
• Affordability
• Consumer readiness
• Content

Scores for each of these four key enablers are combined to produce a single composite measure for a given country of the strength of the foundations to support widespread adoption of the mobile internet.

Grouping

Based on the country scores and their levels of mobile internet penetration, countries have been identified five cluster groups.

• Leaders: these countries generally perform very well across all enablers and have corresponding high levels of mobile internet penetration.
• Fast Transitioners: these countries perform well on two or three enablers and have mobile internet penetration rates that are higher than would be expected for their index score.
• Transitioners: these countries perform well on two or three enablers and have mobile internet penetration rates consistent with their index score.
• Emerging: these countries perform fairly well on one or two enablers but show room for improvement on others.
• Discoverers: these countries show room for improvement across all four enablers and have correspondingly low levels of mobile internet penetration

The full interactive tool can be found here.

The Mobile Connectivity Index is constructed using indicators that draw on a range of data sources. Providers of data include the following:

• GSMA Intelligence
• The World Bank
• The International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
• UNESCO
• UN Human Development Index
• OpenSignal
• Measurement Lab (M-Lab)
• International Labour Organisation
• TLDLogic and ZookNIC
• Facebook (Audience Insights)
• Ethnologue
• Wikipedia Statistics
• W3Techs.com
• AppAnnie
• CIA World Factbook

If you are interested in the methodology and sources used, please read.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences.