
By Alex C
By end 2014, the number of Internet users globally will have reached almost 3 billion, according to latest reports by International Telecommunications Union (ITU). With two-thirds of the world’s Internet users from developing countries, including Nigeria, this corresponds to an Internet-user penetration of 40 percent globally, 78 percent in developed countries and 32 percent in developing countries.
While more than 90 percent of individuals yet to use the Internet are from developing countries, in Africa, almost 20 percent of the population will be online by end 2014, up from 10 percent in 2010.
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. Meanwhile, Europe’s Internet penetration is expected to reach 75 per cent (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 per cent of the world’s Internet users will be from the Asia-Pacific region.
ITU, which reeled out this statistics, are widely recognized as the world’s most reliable and impartial global data on the state of the global Information and Communications technology (ICT) industry.
Results show that fixed-telephone penetration has been declining for the past five years with about to 100 million fewer fixed-telephone subscriptions than in 2009 by end 2014.
Interestingly, mobile-cellular subscriptions are projected to hit almost 7 billion by end 2014, and 3.6 billion of these will be in the Asia-Pacific region. The increase is mostly due to growth in the developing world where mobile-cellular subscriptions will account for 78 per cent of the world’s total.
Data show that mobile-cellular growth rates have reached their lowest-ever level (2.6% globally), indicating that the market is approaching saturation levels.
Africa and Asia and the Pacific, where penetration will reach 69 percent and 89 per cent, respectively by end 2014, are the regions with the strongest mobile-cellular growth (and the lowest penetration rates). Currently, 57.8 million subscribers on the network of major GSM firms in Nigeria use mobile data, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Penetration rates in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Arab States, the Americas and Europe have reached levels above 100 percent and are expected to grow at less than two per cent in 2014. The region with the highest mobile-cellular penetration rate is the CIS.
Furthermore, by end 2014, fixed-broadband penetration will have reached almost 10 per cent globally. Forty-four per cent of all fixed-broadband subscriptions are in Asia and the Pacific, and 25 per cent are in Europe. In contrast, 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 stands out with the lowest growth in fixed broadband penetration, estimated at 2.5 per cent and reaching a penetration rate of around 17 per cent by end 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, 44 per cent of the world’s households will have Internet access. Close to one-third (31%) of households in developing countries will be connected to the Internet, compared with 78 per cent in developed countries. The analysis shows that household Internet access is approaching saturation levels 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.
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