A report just released from the United Nations is claiming that approximately one in eight people spread all over the world have the ability to connect to the Internet whenever their hearts desire, no matter their location.
Made public today, findings from the highly credible organization show mobile broadband subscriptions grew rapidly within the last year, climbing to around 872 million worldwide, up from only 531 million in 2009, according to a Yahoo article.
The article also revealed tha,t in extremely wealthy countries, every second person has a high-speed mobile subscription, while in poverty stricken countries it's around one in every 20 people.
However, it is within the borders of these poorer countries where mobile users increased in numbers the most, growing to about 160 percent year-on-year. This is mainly due to the fact that customers choose cheaper cell phone plans instead of expensive broadband connections.
Surveying 152 diverse countries, results show that there has also been a rise in separation between countries that have access to extremely fast broadband networks such as Sweden, South Korea and Japan and countries where high-speed access is relatively nonexistent, especially in Africa.
Out of all the countries listed within this report, South Korea ranked first as the country with the most information and communications technology available to its citizens, with Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and Finland following closely behind. The U.S. came in 17th place, a drop of three notches.
"This is mainly due to penetration rates for mobile cellular subscriptions and households with computer and Internet, where the U.S. has lower figures compared to the countries ranked above the U.S.," the Geneva-based ITU said in a statement.
Furthermore, another interesting find in this yearly analysis show that dial-up Internet access will virtually vanish in the next coming years.
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Jamie Epstein is a TechZone360 Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC as a Web editor for TechZone360. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
