There are 2.1 billion mobile broadband connections in the world with penetration standing at 30%, the ITU announced on Monday, adding that almost 50% of the world's population is covered by a 3G network.
Mobile broadband delivered over smartphones and tablets is the fastest growing segment of the global ICT market, the UN's telecoms body revealed in the 2013 issue of its annual Measuring the Information Society report. Mobile broadband connections – 3G networks and faster – are growing at an average rate of 40% per year, the ITU said.
It predicts that there will be 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions in the world by the end of this year. At the same date 2.7 billion people will be connected to the Internet, at various speeds and price levels.
In developing countries mobile broadband is more affordable than fixed, but it is still significantly less affordable than in developed countries, the ITU notes. Its report shows that a postpaid handset-based mobile broadband subscription costs 1.3% of gross national income (GNI) per capita in developed markets, compared with 11.3% in developing markets. Prepaid subscriptions come in at 1.1% of GNI in developed markets versus 15.7% in developing.
"Austria has the world's most affordable mobile broadband, while Sao Tomé and Principe, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the least affordable, with service cost equal to or higher than average monthly gross national income (GNI) per capita," the ITU said.
Qatar, the U.K., Germany, Kuwait and France also rank highly in terms of mobile broadband affordability, it added.