Internet use is becoming as ubiquitous as mobile phones. Accordingly, the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions is rapidly approaching the level of mobile-cellular subscriptions, which is plateauing.
Over the last 10 years, the penetration rate of mobile-broadband subscriptions grew by a massive 14.8 per cent per year on average, against 2 per cent for mobile-cellular subscriptions. However, that growth rate has begun to taper off in the last few years.
Fixed-broadband subscriptions also continue to grow steadily, at an average annual growth rate averaging 6.7 per cent over the last 10 years.
Simultaneously, fixed-telephone subscriptions continue their slow but steady decline, losing an average of 4.2 per cent each year over the last 10 years.
In 2022, the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions exceeds the total world population. In the CIS region, there are nearly three subscriptions for every two citizens.
In contrast, low-income countries are lagging behind, with mobile-cellular penetration less than half that in the upper-middle-income and high-income countries.
For active mobile-broadband subscriptions, regional disparities are glaring, with nearly three times as many subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in America as in Africa.
Penetration rates for fixed subscriptions are much lower than for mobile subscriptions, because fixed connections are usually shared by several people in a household. Nonetheless, the inequalities in access to fixed connections across countries are far higher than for mobile connectivity. While fixed connections are common among households in upper-middle-income and high-income countries, they are nearly non-existent in low-income countries, due to high prices and a lack of infrastructure.