Figures released by ITU indicate that, by end 2014, there will be almost 3 billion Internet users, two-thirds of them coming from the developing world, and that the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally. Fifty-five per cent of these subscriptions are expected to be in the developing world. “The newly released ICT figures confirm once again that information and communication technologies continue to be the key drivers of the information society,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré.
The global online population will hit 3 billion by the end of the year, with two-third from developing economies and mobile broadband penetration reaching 32 percent. Describing the latest stats as a “watershed moment”, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said the number indicates ICT was increasingly appealing to the world. Brahima Sanou, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, said: “Behind these numbers and statistics are real human stories…of people whose lives have improved thanks to ICTs. Our mission is to bring ICT into the hands of ordinary people, wherever they live. By measuring the information society, we can track progress, or identify gaps, towards achieving socio-economic development for all.”
