Case Study Details - The EDISON Alliance - Using the GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index to drive digital inclusion: Guidelines for policymakers

Successfully increasing levels of mobile internet coverage, adoption and usage means adopting a data-driven approach to policymaking, with priorities determined by a country’s local context and level of digital development. The GSMA’s Mobile Connectivity Index (MCI) facilitates this type of data-centric analysis and evidence-based decisions. This report provides guidelines for policymakers on how to use the MCI to understand where to focus efforts in order to drive increased mobile internet coverage, adoption and usage. THis reoirt includes case studies from Benin and Uganda. It also includes best practices

Impact / Outcome

There are many benefits and challenges to show, for example, in Benin the Inequality score declined sharply (down 21 points) between 2014 and 2019, while the Mobile Tariffs score remained relatively low at just 25, despite a 10-point improvement during the same period. The latter score is directly influenced by supply-side taxes, which are very high, though these are not currently captured by the MCI. In the other case study, for example, investment in 4G has significantly improved Uganda’s Network Coverage and Network Performance scores, but more needs to be done to improve the performance on the Spectrum dimension. Also, the fall in the Taxation dimension score has hampered growth in the Affordability enabler. Uganda recorded considerable improvement on Content and Services, supported by higher scores on the indicators for e-government and app development.

Funding sources

Public

Key Metrics

Using connectivity to drive digital inclusion