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Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity

Friday, 19 February 2010

The GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, have published ‘Women and Mobile: A Global Opportunity’. The report, the first detailed global study of its kind, attempts to understand the nature of women mobile subscribers in low and middle-income countries such as Kenya and India, and highlights the barriers facing women’s adoption of mobile technologies. It also shows that, by extending the benefits of mobile phone ownership to more women, a host of social and economic goals can be advanced.
The report reveals the extent of the gender gap in mobile usage in many low and middle-income countries. It shows that a woman in a low or middle-income country is 21 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than a man. Closing this gender gap would bring the benefits of mobile phones to an additional 300 million women, empowering and enabling them to stay better connected with family and friends, improving their safety, and helping them obtain paid work, in line with the third UN Millennium Development Goal on gender equality.

Key findings show that:

There are 300 million fewer female subscribers than male subscribers worldwide
 A woman is 21 percent less likely to own a phone than a man in low and middle-income countries - 23 percent in Africa, 24 percent in the Middle East, and 37 percent in South Asia 
Regionally, the incremental annual revenue opportunity for operators ranges from USD 740M in Latin America to USD 4B in East Asia
 Going forward, two thirds of potential new subscribers for mobile network operators will be women 
Women in rural areas and lower income brackets stand to benefit the most from closing the gender gap 
93 percent of women report feeling safer because of their mobile phone 
85 percent of women report feeling more independent because of their mobile phone 
41percent of women report having increased income and professional opportunities once they own a phone

The report highlights that women account for 750 million of the 1.25 billion adults in low and middle-income countries who have mobile phone coverage, but do not have a handset. If operators bring mobile phone penetration among women on a par with penetration among men, this report shows they would collectively earn USD13 billion in additional revenues each year. Findings indicate that greater usage of mobile phones by women would stimulate social and economic growth, while generating subscriber and revenue growth for mobile operators. Previous research by Deloitte has shown that a 10 percent increase in mobile phone penetration rates is linked to an increase in developing country GDP by 1.2 percent.

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