Internet

====Mobile communication====
[[File:Number of mobile cellular subscriptions 2012-2016.svg|thumb|Number of mobile cellular subscriptions 2012–2016]] The [[International Telecommunication Union]] (ITU) estimated that, by the end of 2017, 48% of individual users regularly connect to the Internet, up from 34% in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx|title=World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020 (24th Edition/July 2020)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421072228/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx|archive-date=21 April 2019|website=International Telecommunication Union (ITU)|date=2017a|quote=Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates). World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database}}</ref> [[Mobile Web|Mobile Internet]] connectivity has played an important role in expanding access in recent years, especially in [[Asia-Pacific|Asia and the Pacific]] and in Africa.<ref name="UNESCO">{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf|title=World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018|publisher=UNESCO|year=2018|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920181419/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of unique mobile cellular subscriptions increased from 3.9&nbsp;billion in 2012 to 4.8&nbsp;billion in 2016, two-thirds of the world's population, with more than half of subscriptions located in Asia and the Pacific. The number of subscriptions was predicted to rise to 5.7&nbsp;billion users in 2020.<ref name="GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019">{{Cite web|date=11 March 2019|title=GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019 |url=https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/|access-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311062226/https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/|archive-date=11 March 2019}}</ref> {{as of|2018}}, 80% of the world's population were covered by a [[4G]] network.<ref name="GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019" /> The limits that users face on accessing information via mobile applications coincide with a broader process of [[Fragmentation (computing)|fragmentation of the Internet]]. Fragmentation restricts access to media content and tends to affect the poorest users the most.<ref name="UNESCO" />

[[Zero-rating]], the practice of Internet service providers allowing users free connectivity to access specific content or applications without cost, has offered opportunities to surmount economic hurdles but has also been accused by its critics as creating a two-tiered Internet. To address the issues with zero-rating, an alternative model has emerged in the concept of 'equal rating' and is being tested in experiments by [[Mozilla]] and [[Orange S.A.|Orange]] in Africa. Equal rating prevents prioritization of one type of content and zero-rates all content up to a specified data cap. In a study published by [[Chatham House]], 15 out of 19 countries researched in Latin America had some kind of hybrid or zero-rated product offered. Some countries in the region had a handful of plans to choose from (across all mobile network operators) while others, such as [[Colombia]], offered as many as 30 pre-paid and 34 post-paid plans.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Galpaya|first=Helani|date=12 April 2019|title=Zero-rating in Emerging Economies|url=https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/documents/GCIG%20no.47_1.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412062932/https://www.cigionline.org/sites/default/files/documents/GCIG%20no.47_1.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2019|access-date=28 November 2020|website=Global Commission on Internet Governance}}</ref>

A study of eight countries in the [[Global South]] found that zero-rated data plans exist in every country, although there is a great range in the frequency with which they are offered and actually used in each.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://a4ai.org/the-impacts-of-emerging-mobiledata-services-in-developing-countries/|title=Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI). 2015. Models of Mobile Data Services in Developing Countries. Research brief. The Impacts of Emerging Mobile Data Services in Developing Countries.}}</ref> The study looked at the top three to five carriers by market share in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru and Philippines. Across the 181 plans examined, 13 percent were offering zero-rated services. Another study, covering [[Ghana]], [[Kenya]], [[Nigeria]] and [[South Africa]], found [[Facebook]]'s Free Basics and [[Wikipedia Zero]] to be the most commonly zero-rated content.<ref>{{Cite web|last1= Gillwald|first1= Alison|first2=Chenai|last2=Chair|first3=Ariel |last3=Futter |first4=Kweku|last4=  Koranteng |first5=Fola |last5= Odufuwa|first6= John|last6= Walubengo|date=12 September 2016|title=Much Ado About Nothing? Zero Rating in the African Context|url=https://researchictafrica.net/publications/Other_publications/2016_RIA_Zero-Rating_Policy_Paper_-_Much_ado_about_nothing.pdf|access-date=28 November 2020|website=Researchictafrica|archive-date=16 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216150858/https://researchictafrica.net/publications/Other_publications/2016_RIA_Zero-Rating_Policy_Paper_-_Much_ado_about_nothing.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>