According to a
study released by Yankee Group this week, about 27% of the world's population -- roughly 1.8 billion people -- will use wireless services by 2007.
This will be the result of fast growth in Asia, Latin America and Africa, according to the report; and will result in an 8.7% annualized growth rate in money spent on wireless services worldwide.
The highest growth rate will be in the Asia-Pacific region, which will account for 38% of all wireless revenues by 2007. Analysts predict the industry will struggle to achieve 2 billion subscribers by 2010. They also predict that handset sales will remain strong, peaking in 2006 at 546 million units before declining to 534 million the following year.
But for all our talk of the increasingly connected global village, the digital divide remains a real and tangible issue. Although the internet’s reach has grown exponentially in about the last ten years, increasing from just under a million users in 1993 to more than 600 million in 2002, only about 10% of the world’s population is online; almost 90% of the world’s Internet users are from what we consider to be developed countries. Keep in mind that nearly a third of those users are from the U.S., where rural access to the net is still a huge challenge. The same holds true for the EU.
Bridging the digital divide requires more than simply offering computers and Internet access. Fortunately, civil society has taken over. Responsibile corporate stakeholders are working with international development agencies to create market reforms. This means economic growth, poverty relief, information sharing, and an increase in productivity.
Recommended reading:
Space green paper: Bridging the "digital divide"
WEF: Global Information Technology Report
UNDP Commission on the Private Sector & Development Report:
Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making business work for the poor