What portion of the world’s population will be connected for the World Cup?

As the FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 14 in Moscow, Inmarsat undertook a Connectivity World Cup survey to test what portion of the world’s population would be connected to the internet to watch the games. The survey was triggered by The International Telecommunications Union’s Connect 2020 Agenda, which aims for at least 50% of households in developing nations to have internet access in two years’ time.

Inmarsat analysed the proportion of households with internet access among participating nations in this summer’s football showcase.

“Somewhat surprisingly, it was Iceland who took the trophy, with an impressive 98% of its population online, closely followed by its Nordic neighbour Denmark (96%) and England in third position at 94%,’ points out Phil Meyers, VP Capability and Innovation, Inmarsat Enterprise, in a recent blog he wrote about connectivity and how four billion people around the world still do not have connectivity.

“It has been surprising how some countries that are extremely competitive on the pitch haven’t matched this in terms of internet connectivity. Argentina might have won the World Cup twice, but only has 70% of its population online, while Brazil has been a winner five times, yet 40% of its population remains offline. And the biggest surprise? The USA. It won’t even be at the finals this time round – its first absence since 1986 – and has just 76% of its population online.”

“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%).”

In a world where connectivity is no longer a luxury, Meyers points out “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.

“It is here that satellite connectivity can really be harnessed to help these countries feel less isolated and also deliver social and economic benefits. After all, fans are not only using a variety of devices such as tablets, phones and laptops to watch the games themselves, but also the power of connectivity to engage in the experience in real time, from apps to text a friend a score update to calling family back home to celebrate a win,” he pointed out.

Inmarsat is now working with the UK Space Agency and local governments to improve healthcare outcomes in Nigeria, by bringing connectivity to a number of remote clinics across the country through its BGAN voice and data service.

Inmarsat will be at ConnecTechAsia in a panel discussion titled: Service Provider Panel: IoT, 5G & ROI on Day 1.

_{Below is the Table for the 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}

_{Source: International Telecommunications Union}