Half of World's Population Has a Mobile

This article reports on data from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) concerning mobile phone use and high speed broadband internet technology.

According to the ITU:

• The number of mobile phone users worldwide was over 3.3 billion at the end of 2007, equivalent to a penetration rate of 49 percent. The global annual average growth rate stood at 22 percent.
• Africa showed the strongest gains in 2006-2007.
• More than two thirds of all mobile subscribers were from developing countries by the end of 2007.
• India and China added 154 million and 143 million new subscribers, respectively.
• Fixed telephone penetration has been stagnating at just under 20 percent globally, and growth has been below one percent from 2005-2007.
• High-income countries account for 66 percent of all fixed broadband subscribers, although they represent only 16 percent of the world's population, while developing countries have just one percent of fixed broadband users but 38 percent of the global population.
• Chile, Senegal, and Turkey are states where almost all internet subscribers have high speed access.