The United Nations’ telecommunication on Thursday (28th
Feb, 2013) said the number of mobile phones worldwide is set to catch up to the
globes population next year.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said mobile subscribers will reach 7 billion next year.
By the end of this year, overall mobile penetration rates
will have reached 96% globally, 128% in the developed world and 89% in the
developing countries, it added.
“Near-ubiquitous mobile penetration makes mobile cellular the ideal platform for service delivery in developing countries,” said Brahima Sanou, director of the ITU’s telecommunication development bureau.
Internet access, however, will remain limited in the developing world, with only 31% of the population forecast to be online at the end of 2013, compared with 77% in the developed world.
Europe will remain the world’s most connected region, with 75% Internet penetration, far outpacing the Asia-Pacific region at 32%, and Africa with 16%, it said.
“Household Internet penetration – often considered the most important measure of Internet access – continues to rise,” the agency said.
“By end 2013, ITU estimates that 41% of the world’s households will be connected to the Internet,” it said.
Over the past four years, household access has grown fastest in Africa, with an annual growth rate of 27%.
However, despite a positive general trend, 90% of the 1.1 billion households around the world that are still unconnected are in the developing world.
Fixed wireless and wired broadband service in the United States stands at about 85%, putting the U. S. in a ranking of 14th in the world.
The ITU secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure, noted while speaking to government ministers gathered at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona last week, that two-thirds of the world’s population – about 4.5 billion people – are still offline.
“This means that two-thirds of the world’s people are still locked out of the world’s biggest and most valuable library,” he said.
“Two-thirds of the world’s people are still refused access to the world’s biggest marketplace. And two-thirds of the world’s people are still denied the extraordinary opportunities now available in the other third.
Mobile broadband is clearly going to be a vital part of the solution, and we must continue to mobilize to ensure that all the world’s people have affordable, equitable access to the Internet.”
It also highlighted disparities in the field of broadband internet.
It said the star performers in terms of access speeds were South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, alongside some surprises in Europe, including Bulgaria, Iceland and Portugal.
The cost of fixed-broadband services has dropped precipitously over the past five years, declining by 82% if measured as a share of gross national income (GNI) per capita, the agency said.
In developing countries, such services remain relatively expensive, with residential fixed-broadband accounting for just over 30% of average monthly GNI per capita.
Broadband is most affordable in Europe, where a basic subscription costs on average less than 2% of GNI per capita, according to the ITU.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said mobile subscribers will reach 7 billion next year.
“More than half of all mobile subscriptions are now in Asia,
which remains the powerhouse of market growth,” the ITU said.
By the end of this year, overall mobile penetration rates
will have reached 96% globally, 128% in the developed world and 89% in the
developing countries, it added.“Near-ubiquitous mobile penetration makes mobile cellular the ideal platform for service delivery in developing countries,” said Brahima Sanou, director of the ITU’s telecommunication development bureau.
The ITU also forecast that 2.7 billion people, or 39% of the
world’s population, would be using the Internet by the end of this year.
Internet access, however, will remain limited in the developing world, with only 31% of the population forecast to be online at the end of 2013, compared with 77% in the developed world.
Europe will remain the world’s most connected region, with 75% Internet penetration, far outpacing the Asia-Pacific region at 32%, and Africa with 16%, it said.
“Household Internet penetration – often considered the most important measure of Internet access – continues to rise,” the agency said.
“By end 2013, ITU estimates that 41% of the world’s households will be connected to the Internet,” it said.
Over the past four years, household access has grown fastest in Africa, with an annual growth rate of 27%.
However, despite a positive general trend, 90% of the 1.1 billion households around the world that are still unconnected are in the developing world.
Fixed wireless and wired broadband service in the United States stands at about 85%, putting the U. S. in a ranking of 14th in the world.
The ITU secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure, noted while speaking to government ministers gathered at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona last week, that two-thirds of the world’s population – about 4.5 billion people – are still offline.
“This means that two-thirds of the world’s people are still locked out of the world’s biggest and most valuable library,” he said.
“Two-thirds of the world’s people are still refused access to the world’s biggest marketplace. And two-thirds of the world’s people are still denied the extraordinary opportunities now available in the other third.
Mobile broadband is clearly going to be a vital part of the solution, and we must continue to mobilize to ensure that all the world’s people have affordable, equitable access to the Internet.”
It also highlighted disparities in the field of broadband internet.
It said the star performers in terms of access speeds were South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, alongside some surprises in Europe, including Bulgaria, Iceland and Portugal.
The cost of fixed-broadband services has dropped precipitously over the past five years, declining by 82% if measured as a share of gross national income (GNI) per capita, the agency said.
In developing countries, such services remain relatively expensive, with residential fixed-broadband accounting for just over 30% of average monthly GNI per capita.
Broadband is most affordable in Europe, where a basic subscription costs on average less than 2% of GNI per capita, according to the ITU.
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Mobile phones to catch up with world population in 2014- UN