Inmarsat research reveals unconnected World Cup populations

Phil Meyers, Inmarsat Enterprise

With the 21st FIFA World Cup under way, more than three billion people are expected to follow the tournament on TV in addition to the three million fans making their way to Russia. But as Phil Meyers, the head of innovation at Inmarsat Enterprise, discusses, it won’t be that easy for some supporters to catch the action.


All eyes are currently on Russia, as even casual sports fans get caught up in the glitz and glamour of football’s quadrennial showpiece which kicked off in Moscow. The sheer volume of global interest is evidenced by FIFA’s own statistics which show that one billion fans tuned in to watch the 2014 final, with the tournament as a whole reaching a
television audience of 3.2 billion people, essentially half the planet. But how much higher could this figure have been if more people had access to the internet? After all, fans are not only using a variety of devices such as tablets, phones and laptops to watch the games themselves, but also using the power of connectivity to engage in the experience in real time, be it using an app to text a mate a score update or calling family back home to celebrate a wonderful win.

The latest estimates suggest that four billion people around the world are unconnected to the internet, whether through issues pertaining to Internet readiness, relevance, affordability and accessibility. Logging on is no longer a luxury privilege either; it has become a fundamental for social, economic and technological progress. We, at Inmarsat believe that mobile satellite communications will play a significant role in closing the connectivity gap in the next few years. High-throughput satellites, massive non-geostationary satellite orbit constellations and high altitude platform stations will bring pervasive, reliable, affordable connectivity to even the remotest regions.

The International Telecommunications Union’s Connect 2020 Agenda aims for at least 50% of households in developing nations to have internet access in two years’ time and to draw attention to this campaign we conducted our own Connectivity World Cup; analysing the proportion of households with internet access among participating nations in this summer’s soccer showcase.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was Iceland who took the trophy, with an impressive 98% of its population online, closely followed by their Nordic neighbours Denmark (96%). England were third on the list (94%), a feat even the most ardent supporter wouldn’t expect the football team to replicate on the pitch in Russia this summer. Some other shocks included some countries who are competitive on the pitch, but who can’t quite match this in terms of internet connectivity, such as Argentina (twice winners of football’s World Cup, but only 70% of the population online) and Brazil (five times; 60%). Perhaps the biggest upset of all is USA and it’s a close-run thing as to what is more shocking – their 2-1 defeat to Trinidad & Tobago which ruled them out of the World Cup for the first time since 1986, or the fact that just 76% of their population is online, figures hardly befitting a global superpower.

At the other end of the scale, the poorest performing nations in terms of connectivity were Nigeria (25%), Senegal (25%), Egypt (41%) and Peru (45%). Satellite connectivity can help these countries feel less cut off. For example, in Nigeria Inmarsat is enabling eHealth data and telemedicine information to be available in a number of clinics across the country, including regions where isolated and poor communities have little access to medical care and advice. Working in partnership with NGOs, our BGAN service is enabling the use of several applications including training videos and information systems, to improve healthcare management.

As you help kids complete sticker albums and make plans to meet friends down the pub for the big game, it’s worth sparing a thought for those who won’t be able to tune in; those for whom remaining unconnected to the internet doesn’t just impact their match-watching ability, but also their quality of life. There may not be a quick fix, but the unparalleled coverage, reliability, mobility and flexibility afforded by global mobile satellite systems makes them the most suitable solution for expanding the reach of the internet into rural and remote areas.

Figure 1: Connectivity World Cup: the 32 nations who have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018,
ordered by the percentage of the population who has internet access

CountryPercentage of population online
Iceland98%
Denmark96%
England94%
Japan93%
South Korea92%
Germany89%
Switzerland89%
Sweden89%
Australia88%
Belgium86%
France85%
Spain80%
Russia73%
Poland73%
Saudi Arabia73%
Croatia72%
Portugal70%
Argentina70%
Serbia67%
Uruguay66%
Costa Rica66%
Brazil60%
Mexico59%
Colombia58%
Morocco58%
Panama54%
Iran53%
Tunisia49%
Peru45%
Egypt41%
Senegal25%

 

 

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