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World’s least developed countries threatened by deepening digital divide

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ITU data in special edition of ‘Facts and Figures’ show a decade of halting progress on connectivity for the world’s poorest

Geneva, 05 March 2023:​
The digital connectivity divide separating the globe’s least developed countries (LDCs) from the world as a whole shows no sign of narrowing. In fact, it is widening on key factors, according to ITU’s Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries. 

While the share of the population in LDCs using the Internet has increased since 2011 from 4 per cent to 36 per cent, about two-thirds of the LDC population remains offline. LDCs also still face numerous barriers to meaningful connectivity, including lack of infrastructure, affordability, and skills.   

Although no single figure can capture all aspects and complexities of the digital divide, the gap between LDCs and the world in the share of people using the Internet has actually increased from 27 percentage points in 2011 to 30 percentage points in 2022.  

“The path to prosperity for the world’s least developed countries runs through digital development,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This special edition of ITU’s Facts and Figures highlights the challenges confronting LDCs and should help strengthen commitments between the least developed countries and their development partners.” 

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The ITU study, prepared ahead of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), focuses on trends in digital connectivity in LDCs since 2011, when the UN last held its global conference on least developed countries. 

According to the research, which uses data from ITU’s Facts and Figures 2022, an estimated 407 million people in LDCs were using the Internet in 2022. The 720 million people still offline in LDCs represent 27 per cent of the global offline population, even though the LDC population accounts for only 14 per cent of world population. 

The study highlights that only 83 per cent of the combined LDC population is covered by a mobile broadband signal 3G or above, the main way to connect to the Internet in most developing countries. This compares with 95 per cent coverage for the overall world population. 

The latest edition of Facts and Figures, ITU’s annual overview on the state of digital connectivity, found that the cost of using Internet services inched downward across the globe in 2022. The special ITU analysis produced for LDC5 highlights that accessing the Internet is more costly in LDCs than anywhere else in the world. 

According to ITU, the challenge of getting communities online has also become more complex over the last decade than just constructing physical connections. 

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For LDCs, the goal of universal and meaningful connectivity – when a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable online experience is available to all – remains a distant prospect. Even many of those who can access the Internet do not, because of the barriers ranging from awareness, to skills, to costs. 

“The ITU special report reveals the tremendous digital diversity of LDCs, which implies different priorities and calls for different solutions,” said Cosmas Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “The world’s least developed countries are the planet’s greatest untapped resource. Connectivity – in particular meaningful connectivity – can contribute to addressing the challenges faced by LDCs and help them achieve sustainable digital transformation.” Among other findings from Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries:​

  • the digital gender gap in LDCs remains significant and is not narrowing;
  • almost half of young people in LDCs (15-to 24-year-olds) were online in 2022;
  • just over a quarter of the population in rural areas in LDCs was online in 2022. 

The UN Conference on LDCs, taking place in Doha, Qatar from 5 to 9 March, is a key opportunity to accelerate sustainable development. 

During the conference, ITU will highlight the importance of digital cooperation to accelerate the Doha Programme of Action and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly through public-private partnerships like the Partner2Connect​ Digital Coalition which has mobilized more than 600 pledges worth nearly USD 30 billion. 

By Md Mojahidul Islam

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Apple to spend $30 billion on Broadcom chips as it boosts US sourcing

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Apple , opens new tab plans to spend more than $30 ​billion under a multi-year chip supply deal with Broadcom, bolstering ‌its U.S. sourcing as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to expand domestic chip manufacturing.
Broadcom shares rose more than 4%, while Apple shares were ​down marginally.
Apple said on Wednesday the deal, which ​was struck earlier this week and runs through 2031, ⁠covers FBAR filters – or radio-frequency chips used for ​wireless connectivity in its devices – that it had been ​developing with Broadcom since at least 2023.
Broadcom will invest $1.5 billion to expand its Fort Collins, Colorado, factory under the deal, which Apple ​said would result in the production of at ​least 15 billion chips and support its work with the Trump ‌administration ⁠to source more components domestically.
“The cutting-edge components built in Fort Collins are essential to delivering the incredible performance and connectivity our customers expect, and we’re proud to deepen our ​investments in ​U.S.-based suppliers ⁠that share our commitment to excellence and innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in ​a statement.
“We’re grateful to the president and his ​administration ⁠for supporting important projects like this.”
In August 2025, Apple raised its U.S. investment commitment to $600 billion over four ⁠years, adding $100 billion ​to a previously announced spending ​plan.

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China plans to let top AI firms buy limited Nvidia H200 chips, the Information reports

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China is planning to allow the country’s top AI companies to buy a limited number of Nvidia’s, opens new tab H200 chips, ​the Information reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge ‌of the matter.
Chinese officials have told Alibaba, opens new tab, ByteDance and DeepSeek in recent weeks that they may soon receive permission to buy some H200 chips, the report said.
Shares of Nvidia ​rose 1% after the report.
The chip giant did not immediately respond to ​a Reuters request for comment, nor did the U.S. commerce ⁠department, which oversees exports of advanced AI chips overseas.
China’s commerce ministry also ​did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Alibaba, ByteDance and ​DeepSeek did not respond outside of regular business hours.
The U.S. government has allowed Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to China, and licensed about 10 Chinese firms to buy the ​chips. However, Chinese officials, keen to nurture domestic suppliers, have withheld approval so ​far.
Reuters reported in March that Nvidia had won Beijing’s approval to sell the chips to China, ‌citing ⁠sources, and around the same time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also told CNBC that the company had clearance from China.
Beijing is still determining the exact number of Nvidia chips to approve, and it could amount to fewer than 200,000 ​in total, the ​Information said, adding ⁠that was less than half of what the companies requested earlier this year.
Last month, Reuters exclusively reported that Nvidia told ​Chinese clients its new “Vera” central processors for AI data centres ​could be ⁠available as soon as August and that they can begin placing orders.
Nvidia’s market share in China has effectively fallen to zero, Huang said in October, hurt ⁠by U.S. ​export controls and Beijing’s push for self-reliance in ​key technologies.
The potential shift in China’s stance underscores the growing computing capacity crunch that the country’s ​tech companies are facing.

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Australia’s under-16 social media ban fails first age check hurdle, study finds

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A team of software testers found that Australian social media platforms did not request age proof for any of 50 accounts that declared themselves to be 16, a result that leaves the country’s world-first under-16 ban “ineffective” at the most basic screening stage, according to a study seen by Reuters.

Since December, platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube have been required to bar people under 16 and take “reasonable steps” to verify age, with regulators recommending multiple layered checks. But the new research, conducted by those who advised the nationwide curb, shows that the initial vetting step, which estimates a user’s age from general online activity, is failing to flag young people for tougher verification.
The testers, who last year trialled age-assurance software on more than 1,000 Australians, opened 50 new accounts after the law took effect and set the age as 16. None of the platforms asked for additional proof, the researchers told Reuters. The findings highlight a flaw that has been largely overlooked while public debate has focused on photo-based age-estimation tools.

The ban’s rollout has been widely criticised after surveys indicated that most under-16s still access the platforms. The government last month doubled the maximum fine and warned of possible court action against tech giants, accusing them of setting the system up to fail. Platforms have countered that they are simply following the regulator’s guidance, which prioritises low-friction checks and prevents reliance on government ID alone due to privacy concerns.

Some advisers to the original trial said they had repeatedly warned that the testing process ignored real-world circumvention, including minors entering false birthdates. “We did want to talk about circumvention, but we kept on being told that that wasn’t part of the actual trial,” Colm Gannon of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children told Reuters. A youth digital rights academic involved in a longer-term study of the ban said more impressive results might emerge once platforms move to age-inference methods later in the year. The regulator maintains that the recommended layered approach, if implemented correctly, ensures no single point of failure.

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