GENEVA – Mobile broadband subscriptions have overtaken fixed broadband subscribers, according to new data from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Calling mobile cellular “the most rapidly adopted technology in history”, the report The World in 2009: ICT facts and figures estimates that there will be 4.6 billion subscriptions globally by the end of 2009.
More than a quarter of the world’s population is on-line and using the Internet, but 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 study also noted substantial differences within regions. The U.S. accounts for 82.6% of mobile broadband in the Americas, while in Asia and the Pacific, Japan and the Republic of Korea account for 70%.
China was found to have the world’s largest fixed broadband market, overtaking the U.S. at the end of last year. China’s fixed broadband penetration was 6.2 subscribers per 100 inhabitants.
