Fiji, Oct. 15 -- Nearly two-thirds of people in the Pacific Islands remain without mobile internet access despite expanding network coverage, highlighting affordability and digital skills as major barriers to connectivity.

A new report by GSMA Intelligence, commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), estimates mobile internet usage in the Pacific Islands at just 36 percent, compared with 93 percent in East Asia.

The report, Closing the Mobile Connectivity Gap in Developing Asia Pacific, says 1.2 billion of the 4.3 billion people living across developing Asia and the Pacific remain offline, accounting for 46 percent of the world's unconnected population.

Although 98 percent of the region's population lives within reach of a 4G net...