| Relevance/rationale of the indicator (resp. why the indicator was chosen to measure the target and how it is suitable for these purposes) |
The percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular network can be considered as a minimum indicator for ICT access since it provides people with the possibility to subscribe to and use mobile-cellular services to communicate. Over the last decade, mobile-cellular networks have expanded rapidly and helped overcome very basic infrastructure barriers that existed when fixed-telephone networks – often limited to urban and highly populated areas - were the dominant telecommunication infrastructure. While 2G mobile-cellular networks offer limited (and mainly voice-based) services, higher-speed networks provide increasingly high-speed, reliable and high-quality access to the Internet and its increasing amount of information, content, services, and applications. Mobile networks are therefore essential to overcoming infrastructure barriers, helping people join the information society and benefit from the potential of ICTs, in particular in least developed countries. The indicator highlights the importance of mobile networks in providing basic, as well as advanced communication services and will help design targeted policies to overcome remaining infrastructure barriers, and address the digital divide. Many governments track this indicator and have set specific targets in terms of the mobile population coverage (by technology) that operators must achieve. |
