The World Benchmarking Alliance has ranked Telstra of Australia as the leader in terms of working towards improving digital inclusivity out of 100 technology firms, scoring 1.73 points out of a possible 2.0. Factors in the ranking were access, skills, use and innovation. Telefonica of Spain came second with 1.62 points, Orange third with 1.59, PLDT fourth scoring 1.52 points, and Nokia fifth with 1.51 points.

In sixth position on was Cisco at 1.47 points, with Deutsche Telekom seventh at 1.37. Japan's NTT and HP of the US were jointly ranked eighth at 1.32 points, and Samsung of South Korea rounded off the top ten with a score of 1.30.

Telia Company scored 1.16 points out of 2.0. The operator said it stood out in particular with regard to cybersecurity and child safety and is one of few companies to have drawn up guidelines for ethics within AI. The alliance referred to Telia's award-winning "More Digital" scheme, which aims to encourage older people to go online, as almost 500,000 people are digitally excluded.

Telia runs More Digital with local councils and nearly 10,000 older people have received training from younger ones. The ranking from World Benchmarking Alliance applies to all of Telia Company's markets worldwide.

The alliance is funded by the Aviva Foundation, German international cooperation organisation GIZ, the European Commission, German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Ikea Foundation, Laudes Foundation, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Porticus, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Walton Family Foundation.