Digital inclusion challenges: Connectivity

Connectivity is essential, and everyone should have access to the opportunities it provides.    

  Through our everyone.connected campaign aim we want to help 4 million people living in digital exclusion by the end of 2025. We have already connected 1.5million people digitally throughout this programme.     

As part of this UK wide campaign, we introduced charities.connected. This allows charities to apply for free sims with 40 gigabytes of data for 6 months, plus unlimited calls and texts, to support their service users with digital inclusion programmes. We support existing support mechanisms like the National Databank, powered by Good Things Foundation. We’ve pledged 24m gigabytes of data, enough to connect 200,000 people for six months. We recognise that for many people, these lifelines are the only way they can get connected.    

We’ve also committed to social tariffs for people on qualifying benefits. Our fixed-line broadband social tariff is now complemented by a mobile tariff through VOXI For Now.  We have called on Openreach to make changes to help us help more families with better affordable broadband at home.  Vodafone's new faster social broadband to help more families  

Beyond our support for connectivity, we think improving digital skills is an essential component of our everyone.connected campaign. Our Digital Parenting portal and Digital Parenting Pro resource provides advice and support on making the right digital choices for your family, and through Hi Digital Vodafone UK Foundation is working with Independent Age to provide digital skills training to older people.   

We are also helping Small Businesses and Business Start Ups, with Digital Skills, where we help SME’s and Start Ups to discover how to take the next step on your digital journey. V-Hub by Vodafone is here to help with free expert guidance, a knowledge centre and a constantly evolving range of tools and training.  

We launched with our ‘Digital Inclusion Ambassador’ celebrity Emma Willis, a three part mini series “Disconnected” to help raise awareness of the challenges that come with Digital Exclusion.

To support the challenge on Rural Digital Derivation and help contextualise the correlation between lack of connectivity and deprivation, we tasked the WPI to produce a white Paper on behalf of Vodafone, that has generated a Digital Deprivation Index. We hope to see Government continue to support and help drive better Infrastructure in Rural Communities. Should the Vodafone and 3 merger be approved, we have committed to bring 5G to every School and Hospital in UK with £11billion investment, which would enable us to improve rural connectivity.    

   Vodafone pledges to close the town vs country digital divide