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 Indexes
    • Discontinued
  • Connectivity Maps
  • Periodic Global Reports
    • Discontinued
  • Regional Reports and Data
  • Data and Measurement
    • One-off reports
  • License

Global Indexes

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• Network Readiness Index - Portulans Institute index of network readiness across economies. (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) · archive
• GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index - Measures countries against four enablers of mobile internet adoption: Infrastructure, Affordability, Consumer Readiness and Content. (Methodology)
• ITU ICT Development Index - Composite index based on three pillars: ICT Access, ICT Use, and ICT Skills. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2017)
• Speedtest Global Index - Index of mobile and fixed broadband speeds from around the world on a monthly basis.
• Internet Resilience Index (IRI) - Internet Society index monitoring weighted indicators of Internet resilience.
• cable.co.uk Worldwide Broadband Price Comparison - Index of broadband costs around the world based on fixed line and wireless access. (2023) (2022) (2019) (2018)
• Internet Poverty Index - Internet poverty measure from World Data Lab.
• Emerging Digital Powerhouse Index - Ranking of OECD countries on factors ranging from tertiary enrollment to 5G connectivity, produced by wireless manufacturer Airgain.

Discontinued

• A4AI Affordability Drivers Index - Index of internet affordability by the Alliance for Affordable Internet Access (last published 2021). (2021) (2020)
• A4AI Mobile Broadband Data Costs - Price of broadband data (1GB mobile prepaid) as % of GNI per capita (last published 2020). (2020) (Q4 2018) (2017)
• Inclusive Internet Index - Index sponsored by Meta measuring internet connectivity against Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness (discontinued).
• Huawei Global Connectivity Index - Snapshot of 50 nations' digital transformation status measured against Supply, Demand, Experience and Potential (discontinued).
• World Economic Forum - Networked Readiness Index - Earlier WEF edition of the Networked Readiness Index; succeeded by the Portulans Network Readiness Index (discontinued).
• Cisco Visual Networking Index - Forecast and Trends, 2017–2022 White Paper (discontinued).

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 - Open data map of Content Distribution Networks around the world hosted by NSRC (May 2024).
• TeleGeography Africa Telecoms Map - Map of African telecoms including undersea cables, international bandwidth, and cloud data centres. (2025) (2024)
• 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 - Annual print editions of the submarine cable map. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) · archive
• Submarine Telecoms Forum - Interactive map and directory of undersea cables as well as an annual almanac.
• TeleGeography Cloud Infrastructure Map - Map of cloud infrastructure providers around the world.
• ITU Infrastructure Connectivity Map - Online map of undersea and terrestrial fibre optic networks from ITU.
• Hurricane Electric 3D Map - Interactive 3D map of undersea cables and Hurricane Electric Points of Presence (POPs) and routes.
• nperf Mobile Coverage Maps - Mobile coverage based on data collected from the nperf app.
• ITU Disaster Connectivity Map - Map to assist disaster first responders in determining the status of telecommunications network infrastructure, coverage, and performance.
• Ookla Data for Good - Open dataset and map of results from the Speedtest Global Index.
• GSMA Mobile Coverage Maps @ Mobile World Live - Somewhat dated but still useful map of mobile network coverage on a country-by-country basis.
• GSMA Mobile Network Coverage Maps - Offline as of April 2024 (discontinued).
• ITU Broadband Atlas - Interactive infographic tool showcasing the status of broadband deployment worldwide and the regulatory landscape for broadband (discontinued).
• Giga Global connectivity map for children - Global map of connected schools and health facilities from Giga, a joint initiative of UNICEF and ITU.

Periodic Global Reports

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• We Are Social / Meltwater Digital - Annual report on internet and social media adoption. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) · archive
• GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report - Gender gaps in mobile ownership and mobile internet use in low- and middle-income countries. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) · archive
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Global overview of the mobile industry's economic contribution and connectivity trends. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) · archive
• Broadband Commission: The State of Broadband - Annual flagship report on broadband access, affordability, and use. (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) · archive
• GSMA State of Mobile Internet Connectivity - Trends in global mobile internet connectivity and barriers to adoption. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022) · archive
• Ericsson Mobility Report - Forecasts and analysis of mobile subscriptions, traffic, and network trends. (June 2026) (Nov 2025) (Jun 2025) (Q2 2024) (2024) · archive
• ITU Global Connectivity Report - Detailed assessment of the current state of connectivity. (2025) (2022)
• ITU Measuring Digital Development - Facts and Figures annual estimates of global connectivity. (2026) (2025) (LLDCs 2025) (2024) (2024 Small Island States) · archive
• ITU Measuring Digital Development: ICT Price Trends - Analysis and comparison of price data for mobile-voice services, mobile data and fixed broadband. Replaces the Measuring the Information Society Report. (2024) (2019)
• UN E-Government Survey - Global E-Government and E-Participation Development Index; underlying country data in the UN E-Government Knowledge Database. (2024) (2022) (2020) (2018) (2016)
• DataReportal - Global and national reports on data usage collected via third parties, produced by market analysis firm Kepios.

Discontinued

• Mozilla Internet Health Report - Annual look at the health of the internet (last published 2020). (2020) (2019) (2018)
• ITU Measuring the Information Society - Earlier ITU series on ICT development, later replaced by Measuring Digital Development (discontinued). (2018) (2017)
• Deloitte - Global Mobile Consumer Trends - Survey of mobile consumer behaviour across markets (discontinued).
• A4AI Affordability Report - Annual report on internet affordability policy and market conditions (last published 2020). (2020) (2019) (2018) (2017)
• Akamai State of the Internet / Connectivity Report - Connectivity report from large CDN company (last published 2017).
• World Economic Forum - Global Information Technology Report - Examines the role of ICTs in driving innovation and includes the Network Readiness Index (discontinued).

Regional Reports and Data

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• GSMA Mobile Economy - Middle East & North Africa - Regional Mobile Economy report for MENA. (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - West Africa - Regional Mobile Economy report for West Africa. (2019) (2018)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Sub-Saharan Africa - Regional Mobile Economy report for Sub-Saharan Africa. (2024) (2023) (2022) (2021) (2020) · archive
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Africa - Continent-wide Mobile Economy report for Africa. (2026) (2025) (2016)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Latin America - Regional Mobile Economy report for Latin America. (2026) (2024) (2022) (2021)
• GSMA Mobile Economy - Asia Pacific - Regional Mobile Economy report for Asia Pacific. (2026) (2025) (2024) (2021) (2020)
• 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 - IFC/Google sponsored report on Africa's internet economy (last published 2020).
• African Telecommunications Infrastructure Development - Series on African telecom infrastructure at manypossibilities.net (2014–2023).
• RIA Africa Mobile Pricing (RAMP) Indices Portal - Pricing information on Voice/SMS basket, 1GB data basket, and Value For Money bundles (Q3 2022).
• Opera - State of the Mobile Web Africa - Opera reports on mobile web use in Africa (last published 2019). (2019) (2016)
• Ericsson Mobility Report - Sub-Saharan Africa - Regional closer look from the Ericsson Mobility Report. (2024) (2015)
• Opensignal - The State of Mobile Network Experience in Africa - Download speeds and network quality in 27 African countries (November 2024).
• Lions go digital: The Internet's transformative potential in Africa - Report by McKinsey on the potential impact of the Internet in Africa (last published 2013).

Data and Measurement

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• ITU Data Hub - Revamp of the ITU World ICT/Telecommunication Indicators Database (WTID), now free for non-commercial use.
• The Global Findex - World Bank financial inclusion survey; as of 2025 includes a Digital Connectivity Tracker.
• Cloudflare Radar - Internet traffic, security, routing, outages, DNS, and more. (2025) (2024) (2023) (2022)
• Cloudflare Radar's Internet Quality Index - Estimated country-level internet download speeds and performance.
• M-Lab Global Network Diagnostic Tool - Open, verifiable measurement platform for global network performance.
• SpeedChecker Insights - Periodic country-level reports on mobile internet speeds, latency, and coverage.
• Opensignal - State of Mobile Networks Reports - Country reports based on Opensignal data gathering.
• IPinfo.io - Country Pages - Country-level IP data covering top ASNs, important routers, city-level information, carrier IPs, and other IP data.
• USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessments - Country assessments of digital ecosystems. (Ghana 2024) (Tanzania 2023) (Mali 2023) (Bangladesh 2023) (Zambia 2022) · archive
• Global Stats by StatCounter - Browser market share over time by browser, region, and OS.
• Global Mobile Suppliers Association - Reports on LTE and 5G adoption.
• Continent of Africa: High Resolution Population Density Maps - Meta HRSL datasets offering high-accuracy population mapping.
• UN E-Government Knowledge Database - Country-level e-government development data from the UN; see also the UN E-Government Survey.
• InternetLiveStats - 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.
• SimilarWeb - Mobile App Ranking - Ranking of popular mobile apps across countries.
• LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+, 3G, GSM information by country - List of mobile networks around the world and their associated frequencies.

One-off reports

• AfterAccess - Mobile & Internet Use in the Global South - Infographic highlights of nationally representative surveys of ICT access and use by households and individuals in 16 developing countries of the Global South.
• GSMA - Enabling Rural Coverage - Regulatory and policy recommendations to foster mobile broadband coverage in developing countries (last published 2018).
• WEF Internet for All - Framework for accelerating internet access and adoption (last published 2016).
• Kleiner Perkins Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report - Trends that affect and drive internet uptake globally (last published 2018).
• Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018–2023) White Paper - Cisco forecast of internet traffic and device growth (last published 2020).

License

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