In the end of July International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published its annual report on the state of development of information and communication technologies – ICT Facts & Figures 2016. The report states serious progress in spread of information technologies. The majority of Internet users come from developed countries. There are about 2.5 billion users from these countries, while in developing countries – only about 1 billion. At the same time the penetration of Internet technologies show another picture. In developed countries the level of Internet penetration is more than 81 percent, in developing countries – around 40% and in the Least Developed Countries – only 15%.
Mobile phone coverage, according to ITU, is close to 100%. 95% to be exact have access to at least 2G mobile networks. 53% of the world population can already access 4G-LTE, by the end of the year the number of users of these nets will reach 3.6 billion people. Growth in mobile access leads to lower prices. As of today mobile Internet services are on average twice cheaper than access services via wired connection with similar characteristics.
Nevertheless, ITU states that the “digital inequality” remains. By the end of 2016 more than a half of the world’s population (about 3.9 billion people) will still be deprived from the possibility of going online. When in Europe 84% of families are connected to the Internet, in Africa the number is as low as 15.4%. Gender gap remains and even worsens. For men Internet is still more accessible than to women. In 2013 the Internet penetration for men was 11% higher than for women. In 2016 the gap increased and now is 12 percent. The gap is the highest in Africa where it is 23%, the lowest in America – only 2 percent.
