GSMA and ITU chiefs target handset affordability and trust

By Daniel Okafor

RAM prices driven by AI demand doubled and then rose another 40% over the past year, according to GSMA director general Vivek Badrinath, making the industry's long-held ambition of a sub-$50 smartphone harder to sustain.

If the reported increases compound, memory became 2.8 times as costly from the starting point. Badrinath made the warning at MWC26 in Doha, Qatar, during an opening session co-located with the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2026.

He said: “this year has been bad.” The joint venue put device affordability and regulatory policy into one discussion. The full session remains available on replay through the MWC Doha agenda. Both leaders called for partnerships and continued action on affordability and inclusion.

What happened to the $50 smartphone target?

There had once been “line of sight to a $50 phone” as memory costs escalated, Badrinath said. “That’s gone out of the window.” His diagnosis was specific: “RAM prices due to AI demand simply doubled, and then added another 40% over the last year.”

Those are component-cost claims from Badrinath, not a disclosed handset-price index. His remarks did not provide an average retail price, shipment or subscriber figure, so the commercial size of the gap remains unquantified.

For operators, the distinction is important. A handset can sit within network coverage and still fail to attract a subscriber if its purchase price, data cost or perceived safety risk is too high. The discussion therefore links device economics to service adoption rather than treating coverage as the finish line.

What could restore entry-level affordability?

Badrinath identified three practical routes for bringing entry-level devices within reach.

• Reduce taxes on entry-level smartphones.
• Expand circularity so more phones can return to the market.
• Continue financing and financing tools that help people obtain their first smartphone.

He described circularity as a way to ensure “more phones can come back and flow into the market.” He also said: “We need to continue to work on financing and financing tools to help people to access their first smartphones.”

No tax jurisdiction, funding amount, handset model or implementation date accompanied those proposals. Tax relief can lower the entry price, circularity can widen the pool of available handsets, and financing can spread the cost of first ownership. None addresses every barrier at once.

Why does coverage not equal usage?

ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin said inclusion must work “as an ecosystem.” She warned: “We need to make sure the next wave of technology development doesn’t create a new digital divide.”

She defined the usage gap as people who have a mobile signal but do not access services. Handset cost is one barrier; the price of data in some countries is another. Neither price was quantified in the remarks.

For operators, coverage is an input rather than a usage result. A stronger commercial case requires lower all-in ownership costs, affordable data and protections that make ownership feel safe. The session set that direction without announcing operator programmes or regulatory deadlines.

Can safety and trust bring people online?

Beyond price, Bogdan-Martin said: “Safety and trust issues are keeping people offline that could normally be online.” She cited a recent study across 31 countries that found more than 60% of girls had suffered online harassment, a proportion equivalent to more than three in five.

Badrinath called trust “a big area of commitment for our industry,” because more fraud and scams increase the perceived risk of owning a smartphone. That risk can turn handset ownership into an adoption barrier, even where a network signal is available.

He urged a “holistic view” in dialogue between regulators and the industry. “None of us holds the answer,” he said, adding that social networks, telcos and regulators must work together to protect citizens from these risks.

Neither executive identified a specific platform, fraud metric or regulatory measure. Their proposal set shared responsibility, not an implementation plan. Safety and trust therefore belong inside the inclusion business case, not beside it.

Where do digital skills fit?

Both executives also called for upskilling in digital technology and AI, with access designed so the next wave does not deepen exclusion. They announced no training target, participant number or timetable.

The co-location of MWC26 and the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference was itself presented as useful, allowing Badrinath and Bogdan-Martin to discuss industry and regulatory priorities in close proximity.

With no rollout dates, investment commitments or policy timetable attached to the Doha proposals, the next test is whether regulators, telcos and handset makers turn tax reductions, device reuse, financing, safety measures and digital skills into deployed action.