The "3" in "3G" doesn't stand for "third world"

Someone made this remarkable assertion at an industry conference I attended:

"More than half of the world's population has no access to the internet. There are 11 nations with no internet access at all."

Don't be absurd, I thought. How do they check their email?

Meanwhile, in several African nations, all they do with their internet access is send me Nigerian bank scam spam. I'm in favour of withdrawing their internet access...