The Internet will celebrate a milestone this year, according to the International Telecommunications Union, which sees more than half the world population online by year-end.The organization, which is part of the United Nation, says that by year’s end, 51.2% of people on earth – 3.9 billion people – will have access.
“ITU’s global and regional estimates for 2018 are a pointer to the great strides the world is making towards building a more inclusive global information society,” ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao said in a press release. “By the end of 2018, we will surpass the 50/50 milestone for Internet use. This represents an important step towards a more inclusive global information society. However, far too many people around the world are still waiting to reap the benefits of the digital economy. We must encourage more investment from the public and private sectors and create a good environment to attract investments, and support technology and business innovation so that the digital revolution leaves no one offline.”
The organization provided insight into the way that the penetration level was reached
As can be expected, developed countries have greater penetration but a slower growth rate compared to other regions. The Americas and Europe, which have 69.6% and 79.6% penetration, respectively, now have the lowest growth rates.
Other highlights from the research, which illustrates where the ITU expects the numbers to fall at the end of this year:
- Mobile/cellular subscriptions overall are greater than the world’s population, but that growth was minor in the Americas.
- Fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions also are increasing. There now are more of these subscriptions than fixed telephone connections (1.1 billion versus 942 million).
- The number of active mobile broadband subscriptions increased by 268 million to 5.3 billion this year. Developing countries have experienced the greatest growth, though the numbers are not broken out by country.
- Ninety-six percent of the world lives within reach of a mobile cellular network and 90% of the global population has access to 3G or higher speeds.
- Globally, almost half of all households have a least one computer. The split is great, however: in developed countries, 83.2% of households have a computer. Only 36.3% have one in developing countries.
- Almost 60% of households worldwide have Internet access, a big jump from less than 20% in 2005. Almost half have access in developing countries, a big jump from 8.4% in 2005.