Mobile Subscriptions: 4.6 billion by the End of 2009
ITU
predicts significant mobile market growth with global mobile
subscriptions expected to reach 4.6 billion by the end of the year. And
mobile broadband subscriptions to top 600 million in 2009, having
overtaken fixed broadband subscribers in 2008.
According to ITU, mobile technologies are making major inroads toward
extending ICTs in developing countries, with a number of nations
launching and commercially offering IMT2000/3G networks and services.
But
ITU’s statistics also highlight regional discrepancies, with mobile
broadband penetration rates still low in many African countries and
other developing nations.
More
than a quarter of the world’s population is online and using the
Internet, as of 2009. Ever-increasing numbers are opting for high-speed
Internet access, with fixed broadband subscriber numbers more than
tripling from 150 million in 2004 to an estimated 500 million by the end
of 2009, says ITU.
Rapid
high-speed Internet growth in the developed world contrasts starkly with
the state of play in the developing world. In Africa, for example, there
is only one fixed broadband subscriber for every 1,000 inhabitants,
compared with Europe where there are some 200 subscribers per 1,000
people.
The
relative price for ICT services (especially broadband) is highest in
Africa, the region with the lowest income levels. The report finds that
China has the world’s largest fixed broadband market, overtaking its
closest rival, the US, at the end of 2008.
ITU
estimates show that three quarters of households now own a television
set and over a quarter of people globally – some 1.9 billion – now have
access to a computer at home. This demonstrates the huge market
potential in developing countries, where TV penetration is already high,
for converged devices, as the mobile, television and Internet worlds
collide.
Dr Hamadoun Touré,
ITU Secretary-General says, "ICTs are vital within developing countries
to ensure that ordinary people can fully participate in the knowledge
economy of the 21st century. We have seen a positive impact on services
such as health and education in markets where ICT growth has been
strong."
ITU
released the data Tuesday (Oct. 6)
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