Call to attention
Releasing some rather astounding figures, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has said mobile subscriptions will skyrocket to 4.6 billion and that mobile broadband subscriptions will outstrip fixed-line connections by the end of 2009.
This means that by the end of the year there will be the equivalent of two mobile subscriptions for every three people on the planet, as mobile phones continue to sell like hot cakes in developing markets.
The UN reckons mobile broadband will pass the 600 million user mark by December 2009, leaving fixed-line broadband, with its estimated 500 million users, lagging behind.
"There was a 50 per cent increase in mobile broadband subscriptions just over the past year," commented Susan Teltscher of ITU's statistical bureau, adding that the agency expects mobile broadband to keep growing at fixed-line-beating levels for several years.
Digital Divide
The report, however, also served to highlight the unfortunate and ever-emerging Digital Divide, showing that mobile broadband penetration was still incredibly low throughout the African continent as well as in many other developing areas around the globe where even fixed-line broadband is having a tough time breaking through.
"Rapid high-speed internet growth in the developed world contrasts starkly with the state of play in the developing world," says the report, dryly.
In other words, for every one fixed-line broadband subscriber in Africa, another 1000 people go without. In Europe, however, there are some 200 broadband subscribers for every 1000 inhabitants and the price, ironically, is lower, too. Buying fixed-line broadband in Africa is a small fortune and it's one the populace can scarcely afford the luxury of.