The number of Internet users is growing – in 2017 already half the population will be “online”!
The number of Internet users is growing – in 2017 already half of the population will be “online”!
Very positive news comes to us from New York. During the 10. Broadband Commission for Digital Development meeting, presented this year’s edition of the State of Broadband report, which states that by 2017, more than 50% of the world’s human population will access the Internet.
What factors will enable such a serious increase (currently it is assumed that about 40% of people in the world have access to the resources of the global network) of people with access to the Internet? The report’s authors see the change mainly in the development and popularization of mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablets.
Optimistic forecasts
The 2.3 billion people who are already “online” are expected to grow to 7.6 billion Internet users in 2019. What’s more, three times more mobile broadband services are already in operation than their conventional counterparts. The popularity of social networks, which are used by some 1.9 billion mobile users, is one of the most visible examples of the trend described.
Technological opportunities
In addition to general conclusions, the State of Broadband report brings quite detailed data on network infrastructure in different parts of the world. The undisputed leader in terms of broadband penetration is South Korea, where as many as 98% of households have one. Second place this year went to Monaco (44% of the country’s population with broadband access).
In addition to the above-mentioned countries, only Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands still boast a score of 40% of the population (in 2013 only one country: Switzerland).
Internet users – where there are the most and where there are the least?
In addition to the purely technical aspects, the report presents data on the number of Internet users in each country. In 77 countries (in 2013 there were 70), more than 50% of the population are Internet users. Also in this category, European countries dominate, as the top ten included representatives of this continent alone, and the first place in terms of the number of Internet users is held by Iceland (96.5% of the population).
On the other side of the ranking were sub-Saharan areas, where the Internet is used by a fraction of the population: 1.9% in Ethiopia (similarly in Niger, Sierra Leone, Guinea). The smallest percentage of Internet users was recorded in the State of Eritrea (just 0.9% of citizens).
