International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) campaign to narrow the global digital divide moved a step closer to its ambitious funding target this week, with pledged commitments to its Partner2Connect Digital Coalition climbing beyond $82 billion.
The announcement was made in Barcelona during the opening days of Mobile World Congress 2026, where policymakers and industry executives gathered amid renewed concern that 2.2 billion people worldwide remain cut off from the Internet and the economic and social benefits that flow from it.
Launched in 2021, Partner2Connect was designed as a rallying platform, encouraging governments, telecom operators, technology companies and development institutions to align investments around universal, meaningful connectivity. Five years on, the initiative is edging toward its $100 billion target set for the end of 2026.
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Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU secretary-general described the latest milestone as proof that collective action in digital infrastructure is gaining traction at a time when access to broadband increasingly determines access to education, healthcare, financial services and artificial intelligence tools.
Big-ticket infrastructure commitments
Two new pledges accounted for a significant share of the updated total.
Saudi operator Mobily committed $1.715 billion toward expanding data centres, submarine cable systems, 5G and next-generation network infrastructure. The investment aligns with Riyadh’s broader economic diversification plans and ambitions to position the kingdom as a digital bridge between East and West, while strengthening AI and cloud computing capacity at home.
Meanwhile, Doha-based Ooredoo Group pledged $500 million to extend submarine and terrestrial fibre networks across the Middle East and North Africa region. The company said the investment would deepen cross-border connectivity and improve network resilience, a growing priority as digital traffic surges.
Together, the projects underscore a clear pattern: capital is flowing into backbone infrastructure like cables, fibre routes, data hubs, that quietly determines whether emerging markets can compete in a data-driven economy.
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A long road to universal access
Despite the funding momentum, the scale of the challenge remains formidable. ITU estimates that achieving universal and meaningful connectivity by 2030 could require between $2.6 trillion and $2.8 trillion in total investment.
That figure reflects not only the cost of laying cables or erecting towers, but also upgrading regulatory frameworks, supporting digital literacy, improving affordability and ensuring safe online participation. Connectivity without skills or affordable access, experts argue, risks deepening inequality rather than reducing it.
Since its inception, Partner2Connect has attracted more than 1,000 pledges spanning 149 countries. These range from national broadband roll-outs and rural access programmes to capacity-building projects and policy reforms aimed at lowering barriers to entry in underserved markets.
Crucially, the coalition allows participants to register both new and ongoing projects, creating a public ledger of commitments and a mechanism for tracking delivery. That transparency, ITU officials say, is intended to convert headline pledges into measurable outcomes.
Connectivity as economic infrastructure
The renewed investment push comes at a time when digital infrastructure is increasingly viewed as foundational economic infrastructure, comparable to roads, ports or electricity grids.
In many developing economies, broadband access now shapes everything from mobile banking uptake to remote medical consultations and online education platforms. For countries seeking to harness artificial intelligence and cloud-based services, high-capacity networks are no longer optional.
Yet affordability gaps persist. Even where coverage exists, cost remains a barrier for millions. That reality explains why Partner2Connect places equal emphasis on policy reform and skills development alongside capital spending.
Closing the quarter gap
With roughly a quarter of the world’s population still offline, the coalition’s $82 billion milestone represents progress, but also a reminder of unfinished business. The next nine months will be critical if the initiative is to close the remaining gap to its $100 billion goal.
For the ITU and its partners, the calculus is straightforward: without sustained investment and coordination, the digital divide risks hardening into a permanent development fault line. With it, hundreds of millions could gain access to tools that reshape livelihoods, governance and innovation.
As the Barcelona summit continues, the message from the global telecom community is clear, the race to connect the unconnected is accelerating, but the finish line remains some distance away.
