Poor drive growth in global cell phone

Six in ten people around the world now have cell phone subscriptions,
signaling that mobiles are the communications technology of choice
particularly in poor countries, according to a U.N. report published
Monday.

By the end of last year there were an estimated 4.1 billion
subscriptions globally, compared with about 1 billion in 2002, the
International Telecommunication Union said.

Fixed line subscriptions increased at a much slower pace to 1.27
billion from about 1 billion over the same period.

"There has been a clear shift to mobile cellular telephony," the
agency said, noting that developing countries now account for about
two-thirds of cell phones in use. In 2002 less than half of mobile
subscriptions globally were in the developing world, it said.

Internet use more than doubled. An estimated 23 percent of people on
the planet used the Net last year, up from 11 percent in 2002. Poor
countries still lag far behind on Internet access, with only 1 in 20
people in Africa going online in 2007 — the most recent year for which
firm figures were available.

Fixed broadband penetration increased to almost 20 percent in rich
countries, while globally just over 1 in 20 had access to fast
Internet connections at home.

The Geneva-based agency recorded the sharpest rise in mobile broadband
subscriptions. The technology, which allows users to access the Web at
high speed with mobile devices, was available to 3 percent of people
worldwide, increasing to 14 percent in developed countries.