The GSMA warns that the rapid growth of AI infrastructure may exacerbate the global digital gap, as soaring memory prices threaten affordability of entry-level smartphones for lower-income populations, potentially stalling mobile internet adoption.
The GSMA has warned that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure could deepen the global digital divide by pushing up the cost of smartphone components and making entry-level devices less affordable in lower-income markets. In its State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2026 report, the industry body said the pressure is already visible in memory prices and is beginning to feed through to handset costs, threatening the pace of mobile internet adoption in low- and middle-income countries.
GSMA analysis, drawing on Counterpoint Research data, found that memory prices more than doubled between the third quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, then rose by a further 80% to 90% in the second quarter of 2026. Counterpoint has separately said global smartphone shipments fell to their lowest second-quarter level in 13 years, as the memory shortage hit the entry-level segment hardest. The result, GSMA said, is a sharp squeeze on the cheapest phones, which are often the only devices within reach for first-time users.
The report said 4.8 billion people now use mobile internet on their own device, but growth slowed to about 160 million new users in 2025, down from 190 million in 2024. It also found that 38% of the world’s population, or roughly 3.1 billion people, live inside mobile broadband coverage but still do not use it. GSMA said 70% of that usage gap is made up of people who do not own a device, while a further 650 million people depend on borrowed or shared phones to get online.
Affordability remains the main barrier in low- and middle-income countries, ahead of literacy and digital skills, according to the report. At the end of 2025, an entry-level internet-enabled handset cost the poorest fifth of people in those countries the equivalent of 44% of average monthly income, rising to 76% in Sub-Saharan Africa. GSMA said that, until recently, cutting the price of such devices to $30 could have made them affordable for almost 1.6 billion people, while a $20 handset could have reached about 2.2 billion people within mobile broadband coverage. It is now calling on chip and memory makers to increase supply of low-cost components, while urging policymakers, operators and manufacturers to support reuse and other measures that could keep devices within reach. GSMA director general Vivek Badrinath said AI can improve lives on an unprecedented scale, but added that it is “meaningless if people cannot get online in the first place”. He warned that unless entry-level smartphone affordability is protected, billions could be left out of the next wave of digital services.
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