In 2011, 90% of the world's population lived in areas with 2G coverage, while 45% lived in areas with 2G and 3G coverage, and 5% lived in areas with 4G coverage. By 2017 more than 90% of the world's population is expected to have 2G coverage, 85% is expected to have 3G coverage, and 50% will have 4G coverage.

A barrier to mobile broadband use is the coverage provided by the mobile service networks. This may mean no mobile network or that service is limited to older and slower mobile broadband technologies. Customers will not always be