 The ITU Measuring the Information Society report 2016 shows the progress the world is making in creating an inclusive information society and how countries compare in terms of ICT development. The report includes the latest ICT Development Index, a benchmarking tool that combines 11 indicators on ICT access, use and skills. It ranks 175 countries, analyses trends in the digital divide and allows for comparisons over time. In 2016, most countries improved their 2015 values, but the gap between the highest and lowest performing countries, one measure of the digital divide, remained almost unchanged at 7.76 points. The Republic of Korea tops the IDI rankings in 2016 for the second consecutive year. The top 10 countries include two other economies in the Asia-Pacific region and seven European countries. Countries showing the strongest improvements in the IDI performance over the last year are from around the world and include St Kitts and Nevis, Myanmar, Algeria and Bhutan. St Kitts and Nevis rose from 54th place in the IDI 2015 to 34th place in the IDI 2016. Access to fixed broadband internet services is becoming cheaper, but is still unaffordable in a number of least-developed countries, where a fixed broadband plan with a minimum of one gigabyte of data per month corresponds to over 60% of the gross national income per capita. 95% of the global population lives in an area that is covered by a mobile cellular signal, however in some developing economies up to 40% of the population do not own a mobile phone and the gender gap is larger for mobile phone ownership than for mobile phone use. For many people, the cost of a handset rather than the cost of the service itself remains the key barrier. Mobile broadband services are cheaper and more widely available than fixed broadband services. Globally, handset-based mobile broadband prices fell from an average of $29 per month purchasing power parity PPP in 2013 to $18 in 2015, but by early 2016 only 38% of the least-developed countries offered the service. The spread of 3G and 4G networks across the world has brought the internet to more and more people. In 2016, mobile broadband networks covered 84% of the world's population, but only 47.1% use the internet. While infrastructure deployment is crucial, high prices and poor quality of service are serious obstacles to getting more people to enter the digital world. People in most low-income countries get lower speeds and quality for their money. The offline population, 3.9 billion people, is disproportionately female, elderly, less educated, lower income and rural. There is also a significant divide among people using the internet. Internet users with higher levels of education and income make greater use of more advanced services such as e-commerce and online financial and government services. Internet users with lower levels of education and income use the internet predominantly for communication and entertainment purposes. Policymakers are encouraged to address the broader socioeconomic inequalities and help people acquire the skills they need to take full advantage of the internet. The ICT Development Index helps governments to identify digital divides, while helping the private sector seek investment opportunities.