The number of mobile-cellular subscriptions worldwide is approaching the number of people on earth. Mobile-cellular subscriptions will reach almost 7 billion by end 2014, corresponding to a penetration rate of 96%. More than half of these (3.6 billion subscriptions) will be in the Asia-Pacific region.
By the end of 2014, there will be almost 3 billion Internet users (40% of global population), two-thirds of them coming from the developing world.
Over 50% of the global population will have Internet access within three years’ time.
Over 2.3 billion people will access mobile broadband by end 2014, climbing steeply to a predicted 7.6 billion within the next five years. There are now over three times as many mobile broadband connections as there are conventional fixed broadband subscriptions. The popularity of broadband-enabled social media applications continues to soar, with 1.9 billion people now active on social networks.
Sources: Half the world will be online by 2017; The World in 2014
