A list of connectivity indexes, maps, and reports to help you better understand who has access to communication infrastructure and on what terms. All info in the public domain.

_{More on connectivity on my website or on Mastodon.}

Contents

• • Contents
  • Global Connectivity Indexes
  • Connectivity Maps
  • Periodic Global Connectivity Reports
  • Regional Connectivity Reports and Data
  • Other sources
  • License

Global Connectivity Indexes

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• ITU Global Connectivity Report - (2022) - a detailed assessment of the current state of connectivity.
• ITU Measuring digital development - Facts and Figures. (2023) (March 2023 - Focus on Least Developed Countries​) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019) (2017).
• Portulans Institute - Network Readiness Index - (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019) Network Readiness Index covering 121 economies from Portulans Institute
• GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index - (2023) Measures countries against four enablers of mobile internet adoption: Infrastructure, Affordability, Consumer Readiness and Content.
• A4AI Affordability Drivers Index - (2021 - link via Internet Archive)(2020) - Index of internet affordability by the Alliance for Affordable Internet Access (A4AI).
• A4AI Mobile Broadband Data Costs - (2020 - link via Internet Archive) (Q4 2018) (2017) Price of Broadband Data (1GB mobile prepaid) as % of GNI per capita.
• Inclusive Internet Index - (2022) Index sponsored by Meta measuring internet connectivity against Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness.
• Huawei Global Connectivity Index - (2020) Snapshot of 50 nations’ “Digital Transformation” status measured against Supply, Demand, Experience and Potential.
• Cisco Visual Networking Index - Forecast and Trends, 2017–2022 White Paper.
• ITU Broadband Atlas - (2010) Interactive infographic tool showcasing the status of broadband deployment worldwide and the regulatory landscape for broadband.
• InternetLiveStats - (2016) Internet Users by Country, interpolated from ITU, United Nations Population Division, Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and World Bank data.
• Internet World Stats - Internet users compiled from Nielsen and ITU statistics.
• ITU ICT Development Index - (2024) (2023) (2017) Composite index based on three pillars, ICT Access, ICT Use, and ICT Skills.
• World Economic Forum - Networked Readiness Index - (2016).
• UN E-Government Knowledge Database - (2024).
• Speedtest Global Index - (2024) Index of mobile and fixed broadband speeds from around the world on a monthly basis.
• cable.co.uk’s Worldwide Broadband Price Comparison - (2023) (2022) (2019) (2018) Index of broadband costs around the world based on fixed line/wireless access.
• Internet Poverty Index 2024 - The Internet Poverty Index from World Data Lab.
• Emerging Digital Powerhouse Index 2024 - Ranking of OECD countries on factors ranging from tertiary enrollment to 5G connectivity. Produced by wireless manufacturer Airgain.

Connectivity Maps

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• African Undersea Cables - Steve Song’s map of African undersea fibre optic cables.
• African Terrestrial Fibre Optic Infrastructure - Map of African terrestrial fibre networks, Creative Commons, Open Data.
• Global CDN Infrastructure Map - Steve Song’s open data map of Content Distribution Networks around the world (May 2024).
• Africa Telecoms Map 2024 - Telegeography’s 2024 map of African telecoms including undersea cables, international bandwidth, and cloud data centres.
• Africa Bandwidth Maps - Paul Hamilton’s map of African terrestrial fibre and microwave networks.
• Telegeography Submarine Cable Map - Interactive submarine fibre optic cables.
• Telegeography Annual Submarine Cable Update - (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019) (2018)
  
• Submarine Telecoms Forum - SubTelForum has an excellent interactive map and directory of undersea cables as well as an annual almanac.
• Telegeography Cloud Infrastructure Map - Map of cloud infastructure providers around the world.
• ITU Infrastructure Connectivity Map - Online map of undersea and terrestrial fibre optic networks from ITU.
• GSMA Mobile Coverage Maps @ Mobile World Live - Somewhat dated but still useful map of mobile network coverage on country by country basis.
• Hurricane Electric 3D map - Interactive 3D map of undersea cables and Hurrican Electric Points of Presence (POPs) and routes.
• GSMA Mobile Network Coverage Maps - Taken offline in April 2024.
• nperf Mobile coverage maps - mobile coverage based on data collected from nperf app.
• ITU Disaster Connectivity Map - a map to assist disaster first responders in determining the status of telecommunications network infrastructure, coverage, and performance.

Periodic Global Connectivity Reports

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• We Are Social (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) Annual report by Hootsuite on internet and social media adoption.
• Mobile Gender Gap Report from GSMA - (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019) (2018)
• Mozilla Internet Health Report - (2020) (2019) (2018).
• GSMA Mobile Economy - (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) (2019) (2018)
• Broadband Commission: The State of Broadband - (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) (2019)(2018) (2017)
• ITU Measuring the Information Society - (2018) (2017)
• GSMA - State of Mobile Internet Connectivity (2024) (2023) (2022) (2020) (2019) (2018)
• Ericsson Mobility Report - (Q2 2024) (2024) (Jun 2023) (Nov 2022) (Jun 2022) (Nov 2021) (Q2 2020 Update) (Jun 2020) (Nov 2019) (Nov 2018) (June 2018).
• Deloitte - Global mobile consumer trends (2017)
• A4AI Affordability Report - (2020) (2019) (2018) (2017).
• Akamai State of the Internet / Connectivity Report - (Q1 2017) Report on connectivity from large CDN company.
• World Economic Forum - Global Information Technology Report - (2016) Examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in driving innovation and includes Network Readiness Index.
• UN E-Government Survey 2018 2016 - Global E–Government and E-Participation Development Index.
• AfterAccess - Mobile & Internet Use in the Global South - Infographic highlights of nationally representative surveys of ICT access and use by households and individuals in the public domain in 16 developing countries of the Global South.
• ITU Measuring Digital Development: ICT Price Trends - 2019 - analysis and comparison of price data for mobile-voice services, mobile data and fixed broadband. Replaces the ‘Measuring the Information Society Report’.
• DataReportal - Global and national reports on data usage collected via third parties, produced by market analysis firm Kepios.

Regional Connectivity Reports and Data

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• Development and Access to Information (DA2i) Regional Reports - Dashboards profiling Connectivity, Freedom, and Gender Equity by the TASCHA group at the University of Washington. Funded by IFLA.
• e-Conomy Africa 2020: Africa’s $180 Billion Internet Economy Future - IFC/Google sponsored report on Africa’s internet economy
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Middle East & North Africa (2023) (2022)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - West Africa (2019) (2018)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Sub-Saharan Africa (2023) (2022)(2021) (2020) (2018)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Latin America (2024) (2022) (2021)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Asia Pacific (2024) (2021) 2020
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Africa 2016
• African Telecommunications Infrastructure Development @manypossibilities.net - 2014-2023
• RIA Africa Mobile Pricing (RAMP) Indices Portal - (Q3 2022) - Pricing information on Voice/SMS basket, 1GB data basket, and Value For Money bundles.
• Opera - State of the Mobile Web Africa - (2019) (2016).
• Ericsson Mobility Report - Sub-Saharan Africa - (2024) (2015)
• Open Signal - State of Mobile Networks Reports - Report covers a potpourri of countries based on OpenSignal data gathering.
• Open Signal - The state of mobile network experience in Africa - (November 2024) A look at download speeds and network quality in 27 African countries.
• Lions go digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa - (2013) Report by global consulting firm McKinsey on the potential impact of the Internet in Africa.

Other sources

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• The Global Findex - The Global Findex has been published since 2011 but as of 2025 now includes Digital Connectivity Tracker
• Internet Resilience Index (IRI)- Developed by the Internet Society, the IRI monitors select, weighted indicators to measure Internet resilience
• ITU Data Hub - a revamp of the ITU World ICT/Telecommunication Indicators Database (WTID), now free for non-commercial use
• SpeedChecker Insights - Periodic country-level reports on mobile internet speeds, latency, and coverage
• Cloudflare Radar - (2024) (2023) (2022) Invaluable resource on internet traffic, security, routing, outages, DNS, and more.
• GSMA - Enabling Rural Coverage - (Feb 2018) Regulatory and policy recommendations to foster mobile broadband coverage in developing countries.
• SimilarWeb - Mobile App Ranking - Ranking of popular mobile apps across countries.
• Global Stats by StatCounter - Browser market share over time by browser, region, OS.
• Global Mobile Suppliers Association - Various reports on LTE and 5G adoption.
• Continent of Africa: High Resolution Population Density Maps by Meta - HRSL datasets offering unprecedented accuracy in population mapping.
• Kleiner Perkins Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report - (May 2018) Trends that affect and drive internet uptake globally.
• WEF Internet for All - (2016) A Framework for Accelerating Internet Access and Adoption.
• M-Lab Global Network Diagnostic Tool - M-Lab is an open, verifiable measurement platform for global network performance.
• LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, 3G, GSM information by country - Reasonably up-to-date list of mobile networks around the world and their associated frequencies.
• Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018–2023) White Paper - Updated:February 28, 2020.
• IPinfo.io - Country Pages - Summary of country-level IP data covering top ASNs, important routers, city-level information, carrier IPs, and other IP data.
• Cloudflare Radar’s Internet Quality Index - Estimated country-level internet download speeds and performance.
• USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessments - Ghana 2024 Tanzania 2023 Mali 2023 Zambia 2022 Bangladesh 2023 Nepal 2022 Libya 2022 See website for others.

License

To the extent possible under law, Steve Song has waived all copyright and related or neighbouring rights to this work. .

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