- According to the the United Nations, for the first time, more than half of the global population is online.
- The UN said that around 3.9 billion people are now using the Internet.
- The UN agency for Information and Communication Technologies, ITU, said that by the end of this year, 51.2 per cent of people around the world will be using the Internet.
- In a statement, ITU chief, Houlin Zhou said that this represents an important step towards a more inclusive global information society. He called for more support to technology and business innovation so that the digital revolution leaves no one offline.
- The world’s richest countries have been showing slow and steady growth in Internet use between 2005 and 2018.
- The gains have been more dramatic in developing countries, with Africa experiencing the strongest growth over the same period.
- The report also showed that the number of mobile-cellular telephone subions is now greater than the global population.
- It also found that mobile broadband subions have skyrocketed.
- At the same time, the report said that nearly the entire world population, at 96 per cent, now lives within reach of a mobile cellular network, and 90 per cent of people can access the Internet through a 3G or higher speed network.
