Camil Stoenescu's blog

Despite the recent economic downturn, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services, such as mobile phones and the Internet, continues to grow worldwide. By the end of 2009, there were an estimated 4.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions, corresponding to 67 per 100 inhabitants globally (Chart 1). Last year, mobile cellular penetration in developing countries passed the 50 per cent mark reaching an estimated 57 per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2009. Even though this remains well below the average in developed countries, where penetration exceeds 100 per cent, the rate of progress remains remarkable. Indeed, mobile cellular penetration in developing countries has more than doubled since 2005, when it stood at only 23 per cent.

Internet use has also continued to expand, albeit at a slower pace. In 2009, an estimated 26 per cent of the world’s population (or 1.7 billion people) were using the Internet. In developed countries the percentage remains much higher than in the developing world where four out of five people are still excluded from the benefits of being online. China alone accounted for one-third of Internet users in the developing world. While Internet penetration in developed countries reached 64 per cent at the end of 2009, in developing countries it reached only 18 per cent (and only 14 per cent if China is excluded).

A useful tool to monitor such progress is the ICT Development Index (IDI), a composite index made up of 11 indicators covering ICT access, use and skills. It has been constructed to measure the level and evolution over time of ICT developments taking into consideration the situations of both developed and developing countries.

The top ten 2008 IDI countries are (in order of their ranks) Sweden, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom. All but one of these countries are from Europe, the world’s leading region in ICT infrastructure and services uptake. Mobile cellular penetration rates exceed 100 per cent in most European countries, and close to two out of three Europeans are using the Internet.

A regional comparison of prices for fi xed broadband services highlights a striking disparity, mainly between Africa and the other regions. On average, a high-speed Internet connection represents 500 per cent of average monthly GNI per capita in Africa, making fixed broadband effectively inaccessible for most people in the region. In the Arab States and Asia and the Pacific regions, the fi  xed broadband sub-basket represents 71 and 46 per cent of income, respectively, compared to around ten per cent in both the Americas and CIS. At less than two per cent of average monthly income, fixed broadband services are by far the cheapest in Europe.

De aici.