Africa’s mobile broadband reaches 4% – ITU

Africa’s mobile-broadband penetration has reached four per cent, compared with less than one per cent for fixed-broadband penetration.

A  2011 report released by the International Telecommunication Union indicated that a number of developing countries have been able to leverage mobile-broadband technologies to overcome infrastructure barriers and provide high-speed Internet services to previously unconnected areas.

Mobile-broadband subscriptions have grown 45 per cent annually over the last four years and today there were twice as many mobile-broadband as fixed broadband subscriptions.

The report says the world’s top broadband economies were from Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

With 5.9 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions, global penetration has reached 87 per cent and 79 per cent in the developing world.

Out of about 1.8 billion households worldwide, one third had Internet access and compared to only one fifth five years ago.

In developing countries, 25 per cent of homes have a computer and 20 per cent have Internet access, compared to 20 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, 3 years ago.

The growth in Africa’s Internet and Broadband sector has accelerated in recent years due to improvements in infrastructure, the arrival of wireless access technologies and lower tariffs.

Source: GNA