The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says that its Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition has now reached US$73 billion in pledges for universal connectivity, including fresh commitments this week from South Africa’s MTN Group and LEO satellite operator Globalstar.
Partner2Connect is the ITU’s initiative to mobilize pledges and resources to reinforce global connectivity efforts, strengthen the world’s digital infrastructure and narrow the digital divide.
MTN Group – which has deployed on average approximately US$2 billion per year in capex across its markets over the past five years – said at Mobile World Congress 2025 it will pledge to make similar investments across Africa over the next five years to expand and strengthen its voice and data networks.
Meanwhile, Globalstar also pledged at MWC to invest US$2 billion to expand its LEO satellite network for direct-to-device (D2D) and IoT solutions into remote regions.
“In space, on land and under the sea, expansive digital infrastructure highlights how much humanity values and depends on meaningful connectivity,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin in a statement. “These new pledges bring us even closer to our goal of delivering sustainable digital transformation to everyone, everywhere."
According to the ITU, over 1,000 pledges have been made to the Partner2Connect platform from governments, industry, and other stakeholders, covering 147 countries.
The ITU has called for US$100 billion in commitments to Partner2Connect by 2026 for projects driving digital transformation across all countries, with special attention to the hardest-to-connect communities.
The latest ITU’s Facts & Figures report says that 2.6 billion people around the world remain offline. The organisation currently estimates that US$1.6 trillion is required in hardware costs alone to complete the task of connecting the world, with most of the resources needed in developing countries.
