Posted: 08th Oct, 2009 By: MarkJ
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International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released its annual 2009 communications technology (ICT) report. This predicts that worldwide Mobile Broadband subscriptions will top 600m by the end of the year; global mobile subscriptions as a whole are expected to reach 4.6bn.
More than a quarter of the world’s population is online and using the Internet, as of 2009. Ever-increasing numbers are opting for high-speed Internet access, with fixed broadband subscriber numbers more than tripling from 150 million in 2004 to an estimated 500 million by the end of 2009.
Sami Al Basheer, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, said:
"We are encouraged to see so much growth across developed and developing regions, but there is still a large digital divide, and an impending broadband divide, which needs to be addressed urgently. Heads of State and industry leaders will collaborate at ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 to identify the right policies and regulations to support and encourage future ICT growth worldwide."
It's worth remembering that Mobile Broadband subscriptions overtook fixed land-line broadband last year (see chart above); that gap could widen as fixed telephone lines continue their decline. Couple this to future improvements in Mobile Broadband technology ( i.e. LTE ) and land-line ISPs could soon find a new market eating into their churn rates.