|
In
the world's developed countries about 80 percent of the
population use the internet. But only about 40 percent in
developing countries and less than 15 percent in less-developed
countries are online, according to a report by the U.N.'s
International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
In several of Africa's poorer and more fragile countries, only
one person in 10 is on the internet. The offline population is
female, elderly, less educated, poorer and lives in rural areas,
said the union, a specialized agency for information and
communication technologies.
Globally, 47 percent of the world's population is online, still
far short of a U.N. target of 60 percent by 2020. Some 3.9
billion people, more than half the world's population, are not.
ITU expects 3.5 billion people to have access by the end of this
year.
"In 2016, people no longer go online, they are online. The
spread of 3G and 4G networks across the world had brought the
internet to more and more people," the report said.
Telecoms and internet companies are expanding as more affordable
smartphones encourage consumers to browse the internet, causing
demand to grow for data-heavy services. However, less-developed
countries - LDCs - still trail the rest of the world.
"Internet penetration levels in LDCs today have reached the
level enjoyed by developed countries in 1998, suggesting that
the LDCs are lagging nearly 20 years behind the developed
countries," the report said.
It blamed the cost of services and of extending infrastructure
to rural and remote customers and the high price of mobile
cellular use.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla, editing by Larry King)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
