According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the global mobile broadband subscriptions have increased from 268 million in 2007 to 2.1 billion in 2013.
The growth in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions reflects an average annual growth rate of 40 per cent, thereby, making mobile broadband the most dynamic information and communications market. In developing countries, the number of mobile broadband subscriptions more than doubled between 2011 and 2013. In developing countries the mobile broadband subscriptions increased from 472 million in 2011 to 1.16 billion 2013.
Africa has registered the highest growth rates over the past three years and the mobile-broadband penetration in the region has increased from 2 per cent in 2010 to 11 per cent in 2013.
According to ITU, by early 2013, the price of an entry-level mobile-broadband plan represents 1.2-2.2 per cent of monthly gross national income per capita (GNI p.c.) in developed countries and 11.3-24.7 per cent in developing countries. However, in developing countries, mobile broadband services cost considerably less than fixed-broadband services: 18.8 per cent of monthly GNI p.c. for a 1 GB postpaid computer-based mobile broadband plan as compared to 30.1 per cent of monthly GNI p.c. for a postpaid fixed-broadband plan with 1 GB of data usage.
Among the four typical mobile-broadband plans offered in the market, postpaid handset-based services are the cheapest and prepaid computer-based services are the most expensive, across all regions. However, mobile-broadband services remain largely unaffordable in Africa, where the price of a computer-based plan with 1GB of data usage represents on average more than 50 per cent of GNI p.c.
Mobile broadband services are most affordable in Europe, where they represent on average less than 2 per cent of GNI p.c. In the Arab States and Asia and the Pacific region, postpaid handset-based services are relatively affordable, accounting for 2.2 per cent and 3.5 per cent of monthly GNI p.c, respectively. Prices in the America and Commonwealth of Independent States remain relatively high (5 per cent or above of monthly GNI p.c.) for all mobile-broadband services.
ITU also underlines the fact that more than half of all the mobile subscriptions are coming from within Asia, which is driving the market growth in the mobile broadband segment. By the end of 2013 overall mobile penetration rates will have reached 96 per cent globally, 128 per cent in the developed world, and 89 per cent in developing countries. With majority of the global markets saturated, and penetration at over 100 per cent in four of the six ITU world regions, mobile broadband uptake is already slowing down substantially, with growth rates falling to their lowest levels ever in both the developed and developing worlds.
ITU estimates that 2.7 billion people ? or 39 per cent of the world?s population ? will be using the internet by end 2013. Internet access, however, will remain limited in the developing world, with only 31 per cent of the population expected to be online at the end of 2013, as compared with 77 per cent in the developed world. Europe will remain the world?s leading connected region with 75 per cent internet penetration, largely outpacing Asia and the Pacific (32 per cent) and Africa (16 per cent).
ITU states that the household internet penetration ? often considered the most important measure of internet access ? continues to grow. By end 2013, about 41 per cent of the world?s households will be connected to the internet. Over the past four years, household access has grown fastest in Africa, with an annual growth rate of 27 per cent. But despite a positive general trend, 90 per cent of the 1.1 billion households around the world that are still unconnected are in the developing world.
Over the past five years, the cost of fixed-broadband services has declined sharply, declining by 82 per cent if measured as a share of GNI p.c. But in developing countries, residential fixed-broadband services continue to be expensive, accounting for just over 30 per cent of average monthly GNI p.c. ? compared to just 1.7 percent of average national income in wealthy countries.
Broadband is most affordable in Europe, where a basic subscription costs on average less than 2 per cent of GNI p.c. In some developing countries, that figure rises to well over 50 per cent. The difference in high-speed broadband internet access continues to exist.
Further, as per ITU leading mobile broadband providers delivering high speed internet include the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong (China) and Japan, alongside service providers in Europe, including Bulgaria, Iceland and Portugal. In Africa, less than 10 per cent of fixed-broadband subscriptions offer speeds of at least 2Mbit/s. Similar speed is offered in a large number of countries in Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and the Arab world.
