Prosperity brings broadband penetration
The top ten countries for household Internet penetration are all in Asia or the Middle East. The Republic of Korea still has the world’s highest household broadband penetration (98.5% of homes connected), followed by Qatar (98%) and Saudi Arabia (94%). The Asia-Pacific region now also accounts for half of all active mobile broadband subscriptions. Africa has a relatively high percentage of people connected through mobile: 162 million people, or 5% of the world’s total. The top ten Internet-using countries are all European. When it comes to the highest percentage of individuals using the Internet, the top three countries are Iceland (98.2%), Norway (96.3%) and Denmark (96%).
Digital Divide
As Internet access appears to approach saturation point in the developed world, only a third of those in developing countries have access, according to the report. That means more than half of all the people in the world can’t benefit from the Internet’s vast social and economic benefits. In the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries more than 90% have no kind of Internet connectivity whatsoever. The lowest levels access are found in Guinea (where only 1.7% of the population has internet access), Somalia (1.6%), Burundi (1.4%), Timor Leste (1.1%) and Eritrea (1.0).
“The 2030 Agenda recognises the power of new technologies to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide, to develop knowledge societies – we must do everything to support States in reaching these goals, especially developing States,” says UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova. “This calls for stronger efforts by governments and all actors, in ensuring access, use and affordability – it requires also greater work to build the capacities of all women and men to make the most of all new opportunities.”
“The market has done its work connecting the world’s wealthier nations, where a strong business case for network roll-out can easily be made. Our important challenge now is to find ways of getting online the four billion people who still lack the benefits of Internet connectivity, and this will be a primary focus of the Broadband Commission going forward,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, co-Vice Chair of the Commission with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
Information revolution
Access to ICT, particularly broadband Internet, can serve as a major accelerator of development. This is clearly recognised in the 17 new UN Sustainable Development Goals. As the Internet of Things (IoT) comes of age, ubiquitous broadband is becoming even more important. According to the report, countries need to adopt effective policies and strategies to make broadband available, affordable and accessible, as a vital enabler of sustainable development in modern-day knowledge societies. It is increasingly vital to extend access to digital education services, new capabilities, culture, entertainment, healthcare, financial and commercial services, along with training and education.
To inform and improve policy-making, an ‘information revolution’ is required. The role of National Broadband Plans in coordinating public and private sector actions is stressed. According to the report, the number of countries with a National Broadband Plan has grown from 102 in 2010 to 148 today.
The report also states that over 80% of all content on the internet is in one of 10 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Arabic, French, Russian, and Korean. Most of the internet does not offer access to a multi-lingual services. Only five percent of all the languages in the world are believed to be represented online. Demand for – and access to – internet services and content will be strongly driven by overcoming this ‘language barrier’, the report says.
The State of Broadband 2015 is the fourth annual edition of the report, featuring country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability for over 160 economies worldwide. Download the full report here.
