Wireline broadband may offer the highest speeds and reliability for consumers, but according to new figures released by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), growth in developing countries is slowing.
At the end of this year, wireline broadband penetration will have reached almost 10 percent globally.
Asia and the Pacific markets account for 44 percent of all wireline broadband subscriptions, while Europe makes up 25 percent. Meanwhile, Africa makes up for less than 0.5 percent of global wireline subscriptions, and despite double-digit growth over the last four years, penetration in Africa remains very low.
The Americas, however, saw the lowest growth in wireline broadband penetration at an estimated 2.5 percent and is reaching a penetration rate of around 17 percent by the end of this year. Interestingly, the ITU said that Europe's fixed-broadband penetration is much higher compared with other regions and almost three times as high as the global average.
Perhaps not surprisingly, mobile subscriptions are forecast to reach 7 billion by the end of 2013, with 3.6 billion of them being in the Asia Pacific region. The ITU says the increase is "mostly due to growth in the developing world where mobile-cellular subscriptions will account for 78 percent of the world's total."
For more:
- see the release
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