Much of the debate about the digital divide centres on getting computers into the hands of budding digital citizens in developing countries.
But there are those who are looking to existing mobile phone technologies as the way to connect the world.
"Everyone is talking about the digital divide, but the real issue is getting phones in everyone's hand," Tom Phillips, the head of GSM Association's policy unit.
"The core message is simple; 80% of the world has mobile coverage yet only 25% is accessing it," he said
While the likes of Intel are pushing next-generation wireless technologies such as Wimax, Mr Phillips said that governments should be improving existing mobile networks and rolling out high-speed 3G services.
Mobile technology has, for some time, been making a difference in remote, underdeveloped areas of the world where it is difficult and costly to build fixed-line infrastructure and net access.One reason for its success is its ease of use and its ability to conveniently overcome language and literacy issues.
Net access in the traditional sense, via a computer, still needs some level of know-how, such as typing and reading skills. The mobile, in its simplest form, requires voice only.
They were also being shared in local communities to find out market prices, and other vital information, such as medical advice.
In Bangladesh, mobiles are being extensively used for e-learning, e-commerce, and e-government, and local communities there are working on making more local content available via mobile networks.
But even though two billion people have a mobile in their pocket, there was a lot of work to be done, starting with mobile manufacturers, to knock down barriers to access, said Mr Phillips.
Currently, according to Intel's former CEO and current chairman, Wimax is undergoing 100 trials worldwide in preparing for its commercialisation.
The real opportunities for mobile technologies lie in its ability to work with other existing infrastructures that are in place already in vast expanses of countries were poles and wires cannot reach.
One project by Nokia, called BridgeIT, is on show at the UN's World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia this week. It demonstrates how satellite and mobile technologies could be married to provide vital interactive e-learning for people in the Philippines.
The Nokia device offers lessons via a TV screen
The project provides schools with Nokia set-top boxes carrying 80GB of storage on board, a GSM mobile, a Sim card, and a guide to interactive maths and science lessons.
When teachers want to access lessons, they text a unique code and the interactive material is downloaded at off-peak times to the box.
Parents were also recognising that the lessons could be relevant for them too and were coming into the trial schools in the evening to do the lessons too.
Nokia is in discussions with Indonesian and Indian authorities, particularly since the Asian Tsunami which wiped out many schools. It was also looking to try out the systems in Africa, and North African nations.
"I don't want to say that there is no need for PCs," he said. "But the problem with them is that they last for maybe one or two years then start to break down. Schools have no money to fix equipment, especially in rural areas."
Eventually, he imagines children being able to share video diaries and messages with other schools around the world using the system. Education departments could also use the technology to send messages to schools, cutting out the expense of postal letters.
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