Mobile broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally in 2014 with 55 percent in developing world, said telecom industry body ITU.
Mobile broadband
Global mobile broadband penetration will reach 32 percent in 2014 with 84 percent penetration in developed countries and 21 percent in developing countries.
Mobile broadband penetration in Europe is 64 percent and Americas 59 percent, CIS 49 percent, the Arab States 25 percent, Asia Pacific 23 percent and Africa 19 percent.
44 percent of the world’s households will have Internet access by end 2014. 31 percent households in developing countries will be connected to the Internet against 78 percent in developed countries.
More than one out of two households in the CIS will be connected to the Internet. In Africa, only about one out of ten households will be connected to the Internet. However, household Internet access in Africa continues to grow at double-digit rates.
Internet users
By end 2014, the number of Internet users globally will have reached almost 3 billion. Two-thirds of the world’s Internet users are from the developing world against Internet-user penetration of 40 percent globally, 78 percent in developed countries and 32 percent in developing countries.
More than 90 percent of the people who are not yet using the Internet are from the developing world.
In Africa, almost 20 percent of the population will be online by end 2014, up from 10 percent in 2010, ITU said.
In the Americas, close to two out of three people will be using the Internet by end 2014, the second highest penetration rate after Europe.
Europe’s Internet penetration will reach 75 percent (or three out of four people) by end 2014, the highest worldwide.
One-third of the population in Asia and the Pacific will be online by end 2014 and around 45 percent of the world’s Internet users will be from the Asia-Pacific region.
Mobile subscriptions
Mobile subscriptions will reach almost 7 billion by end 2014, and 3.6 billion of these will be in the Asia-Pacific region. Developing world will account for 78 percent of the world’s total mobile subscribers.
In Africa and Asia and the Pacific, mobile penetration will reach 69 percent and 89 percent, respectively in 2014.
Penetration rates in the CIS, Arab States, the Americas and Europe have reached levels above 100 percent and are expected to grow at less than two percent in 2014.
Fixed broadband
By end 2014, fixed broadband penetration will reach almost 10 percent globally.
44 percent of all fixed broadband subscriptions are in Asia and the Pacific, and 25 percent are in Europe. Africa accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the world’s fixed broadband subscriptions, and despite double-digit growth over the last four years, penetration in Africa remains very low.
Africa, the Arab States, and CIS are the only regions with double-digit fixed broadband penetration growth rates. The Americas region will have a penetration rate of around 17 percent in 2014. Europe’s fixed broadband penetration is much higher compared with other regions and almost three times as high as the global average.
By end 2014, there will be about 100 million fewer fixed telephone subscriptions than in 2009.
