Over 50% of global population to have internet access

A  new country-by-country data on state of broadband access worldwide released last week by the United Nation Broadband Commission has indicated that over 50% of the global population would have Internet access within  the next three years.

The  2014 edition of the State of Broadband report released in New York at the 10th meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development  revealed  that more than 40% of the world’s people were  already online, with the number of Internet users rising from 2.3 billion in 2013 to 2.9 billion by the end of this year.

The  State of Broadband is a  global snapshot of broadband network access and affordability, with country-by country data measuring broadband access against key advocacy targets set by the 54 members of the Broadband Commission.

Over 2.3 billion people, according to the study would  access mobile broadband by end 2014, climbing steeply to a predicted 7.6 billion within the next five years.

In the report,  Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration at over 98%, up from 97% last year.

Country by country ranking :

Monaco now surpasses last year’s champion, Switzerland, as the world leader in fixed broadband penetration, at over 44% of the population.

According to the report, there  are now four economies (Monaco, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands) where penetration exceeds 40%, up from just one (Switzerland) in 2013.

The US ranks 19th globally in terms of number of people online, ahead of other OECD countries like Germany (20th) and Australia (21st), but behind the United Kingdom (12th), Japan (15th) and Canada (16th). The US has slid from 20th to 24th place for fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, just behind Japan but ahead of Macao (China) and Estonia.

In total, there are now 77 countries where over 50% of the population is online, up from 70 in 2013. The top ten countries for Internet use are all located in Europe, with Iceland ranked first in the world with 96.5% of people online.
Sub-Saharan Africa

The lowest levels of Internet access are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, with Internet available to less than 2% of the population in Ethiopia (1.9%), Niger (1.7%), Sierra Leone (1.7%), Guinea (1.6%), Somalia (1.5%), Burundi (1.3%), Eritrea (0.9%) and South Sudan (no data available).

The list of the ten least-connected nations also includes Myanmar (1.2%) and Timor Leste (1.1%).
“ There are now over three times as many mobile broadband connections as there are conventional fixed broadband subscriptions. The popularity of broadband-enabled social media applications continues to soar, with 1.9 billion people now active on social networks” the report said.

“As we look towards the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative that we do not forget those who are being left behind,”  ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, said.

According to him,  “Broadband uptake is accelerating, but it is unacceptable that 90% of people in the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries remain totally unconnected.