Mobile penetration in the world's least developed countries (LDCs) is nearing 30%, a rate far exceeding ITU expectations – but internet connectivity is another story.
Access to mobile services in the 48 nations classed by the UN as LDCs has grown from 1.2% to nearly 30% in ten years, the ITU said. This represents a combined total of nearly 250 million connected inhabitants.
Mobile penetration has grown at a CAGR of 42.6% over the last five years in LDCs, compared to just 7.1% in developed countries.
UN-designated LDCs include 14 APAC nations - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen.
UN targets set at the turn of the century had called for 5% average telephone density in the LDCs by 2011. ITU said only Myanmar, Kiribati, Eritrea and Ethiopia had failed to reach this target by 2009.
But internet access in the countries currently lags well behind the UN targets. Penetration reached just 2.5% by the end of 2010, well below the goal of 10% for this year.
ITU has announced five commitments, including providing assistance choosing and deploying appropriate technologies and dealing with security and technical issues, to help meet a new target of 15 internet connections per 100 inhabitants by 2020.
“People ask me if internet penetration is really such a high priority for people who, on a daily basis, face a lack of safe drinking water, rising food prices, and a chronic shortage of healthcare,” ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré said.
“My answer is a resounding yes, because the internet – and especially broadband – is an extraordinary enabler which has potential to massively expand the effective delivery of vital services, such as healthcare and education.”