+34 954488318 Fax:++34 954488300 http://ipts. jrc. ec. europa. eu http://www. jrc. ec. europa. eu This publication is a Scientific and Policy Report by the Joint Research
A great deal of additional information on the European union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server http://europa. eu/.JRC83502 EUR 26601 EN ISBN 978-92-79-37793-8 (pdf) ISSN 1831-9424 (online) doi:
portals, websites, blogs and wikis; promotional literature; video clips; and slideshow presentations. In parallel, a number of consultation rounds with key educational stakeholders (policy-and decisionmakers, teachers, researchers, IT developers etc.
and an online survey with 74 etwinning teachers who took part in a webinar was organized by the etwinning Creative Classrooms Group. 7 Findings from the workshops
and one in Hong kong, in January 2013) offering valuable insights and evidence on effective policies 7 http://groups. etwinning. net/web/creative-classroom/welcome 10 and implementation
10 the Future of Learning Linkedin Group; 11 the etwinning Creative Classrooms Group; 12 the 10 http://groups. etwinning. net/web/creative-classroom/welcome 13 European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning;
13 the European Forum on Learning Futures and Innovation; 14 the European Forum of Technical and Vocational education and Training;
16 and the SCALE CCR website. 17 Survey analytics showed that most of participants entered the survey through a direct link from the around 250 personal invitations sent by email.
A small subset of the participants came from other dissemination channels such as Linkedin, SCALE CCR webpage and etwinning Creative Classrooms Group.
which stabilised after the Organisation and leadership area with 120 respondents. 11 http://www. linkedin. com/groups/Future-Learning-2266966/about 12 http://openeducationeuropa. eu/en
/blogs/join-jrc-ipts-line-consultation-policy-recommendationsmainstreaming-ict-enabled-innovation-le 13 http://www. eucis-lll. eu/news/public-consultations
in order to reform assessment practices (e g. cloudbased e-portfolios that follow a web 2. 0/social media model).
with networked learning as the online component and a limited number of offline meetings, all of
and incentivise teachers to share their innovative practices with peers and other stakeholders through online and/or offline networks (71.1%).
or go to a licensed library to download) or (b) because they do not know that this research exists
%Last but not least, policy should support the application of various research methods (e g. teacherled research, control groups, experimental research, longitudinal studies, social networks analysis, learning analytics, big data research, etc.
Supporting the application of various research methods (e g. teacher-led research, control groups, experimental research, longitudinal studies, social networks analysis, learning analytics, big data research, etc.
Policies are needed that help learning organisations to promote networking with other organisations and stakeholders across sites and also within the same organisation,
from Centre for Strategic Education http://www. innovationunit. org/sites/default/files/Only%20connect%20-%20a%20new%20paradigm%20for%20learning%20innovation%20in%20the%2021st
in order to reform assessment practices (e g. cloudbased e-portfolios that follow a web 2. 0/social media model).
Supporting the application of various research methods (e g. teacher-led research, control groups, experimental research, longitudinal studies, social networks analysis, learning analytics, big data research, etc.
please enter your email address (e g. john@email. com). 42 Annex 2 Workshop participants Participants in the expert workshop'Scaling up ICT-enabled innovation for learning:
in order to reform assessment practices (e g. cloud-based e-portfolios that follow a web 2. 0/social media model).
, experimental research, longitudinal studies, social networks analysis, learning analytics, big data research, etc. to the study of complex'ecosystems'of ICTELI..
in order to reform assessment practices (e g. cloud-based e-portfolios that follow a web 2. 0/social media model).
fax:++41 22 791 4857; e-mail: bookorders@who. int). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications
While some low-income countries have been able to attract technical and financial resources to install patient information systems at some sites,
and telecommunication infrastructure and as countries develop the skills necessary to implement electronic data storage and transmission systems.
the state of telecommunications reform and availability of affordable ICT access; presence of data standards and regulatory frameworks;
It is essential that their individual patient information be available at all points of care and all sites for analysis. In order for this to work,
with the result that many sites are unable to share data thus limiting the flow of information.
and community health sites and primary health care centres. These are the first points of care
It could also be the case that data are transferred offline using compact discs (CDS) or cassette tapes between data centres from the health care centre to the districts or central agency.
It defined mhealth as an emerging term for medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAS),
and retrieve clinical data across care boundaries and sites, and consists of over a million medical concepts.
and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have developed jointly a comprehensive resource on ehealth strategy and planning.
whether at the aggregate or patient level. mhealth Mobile ehealth or mhealth encompasses the use of mobile telecommunication
Each publication in the series is targeted primarily to ministries of health, ministries of information technology, ministries of telecommunications, academics, researchers, ehealth professionals,
action concerning online child safety, Internet pharmacies, health information on the Internet, and spam; and governance and organization of ehealth in countries. 67 Table A1 shows the seven themes of the survey.
Review government action to provide for child safety on the Internet. ehealth policies a systematic review Identify the uptake of ehealth policies across the globe
and circulated in the first quarter of 2009 for comments to selected partners in all regions through virtual teleconferences.
such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). An online forum to discuss the survey instrument
Data Collector Data Collector, Datacol, is based a web tool that simplifies online form creation for data collection
Country coordinators were responsible for completing the forms after obtaining agreement from the expert informant group. 12 Web-based tool for online creation of forms in surveys developed by WHO. 13 http://www
and were followed by a series of teleconferences. One significant outcome during the survey implementation was the development of strong and productive working relationships with regional counterparts
External health and technology indicators, such as mobile phone penetration, were introduced into the analysis for comparison purposes where relevant.
Geneva, International Telecommunications Union, 2009 (http://www. itu. int/ITU-D/ict/publications/idi/2009/index. html, accessed 17 may 2011). 15
45 4 5 The Internet has opened a new world to us. Any kind of information is out there
a) to explain what is being done to help micro and small business by the EU Institutions b) to list the most important websites that are relevant to micro and small businesses We are not claiming to be all inclusive,
For more information on the SME definition, please visit the European commission website at: http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/sme definition/sme user guide en. pdf 2. 2 Why is this relevant?
as well as the links to the relevant websites and points of contact. The European union has three key funding instruments to support SMES.
which are published once a year by the European commission on FP7 website. Certain topics are dedicated to SMES
and to apply for grants you can visit the website of the European Research Council:
The European commission issues calls for project proposals, experts and competitive calls on the FP7 website. http://cordis. europa. eu/fp7/dc/index. cfm.
Several contact points are provided for each Member State and associated states on the website of the FP7 programme.
environment and risk prevention and access to transport and telecommunications services of general economic interest. http://ec. europa. eu/regional policy/thefunds/regional/index en. cfm#http
http://ec. europa. eu/regional policy/images/map/cooperat2007/crossborder/crossborder27 eu 07. pdf The following web link will give you information on transnational cooperation and eligible regions:
Calls for proposal are published on the Marco polo website at the beginning of each year. http://ec. europa. eu/transport/marcopolo/about/index en. htm 4. 4. 3 European Lifelong Learning Programme This programme,
you are not likely to pick up the telephone to give Mr van Rompuy a call.
You can write to the EU SME Envoy at the following email address: entr-sme-envoy@ec. europa. eu In February of this year, the Small Business Act for Europe was reviewed thoroughly.
agencies and other bodies http://europa. eu/geninfo/mailbox/contact point en. htm This link provides an overview of telephone
and fax numbers and postal addresses, see the list of Contact points within the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies Europe Direct Tel:
://ec. europa. eu/solvit/site/index en. htm SOLVIT is designed to solve problems encountered by both citizens
EU information and assistance services http://ec. europa. eu/publications/booklets/others/83/index en. htm On this website you can find booklets issued by the Commission answering questions you may have both
or related to your business. 42 43 Managenergy http://www. managenergy. net/smes. html The website provides you with a guide with thematic and sectorial access to locally relevant energy information for SMES
National contact points can be found through the web link. European Documentation Centres http://europa. eu/europedirect/meet us/directory/index en. htm European Documentation Centres offer online access to EU sources for research
Each national representation's website provides the address of regional representations as well. http://europa. eu/whoiswho/public/index. cfm?
The following website helps you to find the representations of the EU institutions in your country. http://europa. eu/euinyourcountry/index en. htm 44 45 Understanding the processes
+32 2 639 62 31 Fax:++32 2 644 90 17e-mail: secretariat@esba-europe. orgwww. esba-europe. org
/cosme/index en. htm 9 http://www. wheel. ie/sites/default/files/Consultation%20process%20on%20partnership%20agreement%202014%20-%202020. doc 17
Abbey street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary Email: info@mwra. ie Tel: 067 33197 www. mwra. ie
Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 2014 ITU International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva
Switzerland Original language of publication: English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the International Telecommunication Union. ISBN 978-92-61-15291-8 ii Foreword iii I am pleased to present to you the 2014 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report.
Over the past year, the world witnessed continued growth in the uptake of ICT and, by end 2014, almost 3 billion people will be using the Internet, up from 2. 7 billion at end 2013.
While the growth in mobile-cellular subscriptions is slowing as the market reaches saturation levels, mobile broadband remains the fastest growing market segment
and mobile broadband is six times more affordable in developed countries than in developing countries. Income inequalities within countries are one of the reasons why broadband in particular fixed broadband remains unaffordable to large segments of the population.
The report finds that in 40 per cent of countries a basic fixed-broadband Brahima Sanou Director Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) International Telecommunication Union subscription still represents more than 5 per cent
An enabling telecommunication regulatory environment can significantly influence the affordability of services. The report finds that the price of ICT services falls with better market regulation and increased competition.
For example, in developing countries, fixed-broadband prices could be reduced by 10 per cent and mobile-cellular prices by 5 per cent if competition and/or the regulatory framework improved.
This report provides the reader with a comprehensive and critical overview of the role of big data from the telecommunication sector,
Acknowledgements The 2014 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report was prepared by the ICT Data and Statistics Division within the Telecommunication Development Bureau of ITU.
The work was carried out under the overall direction of Cosmas Zavazava, Chief, Project Support and Knowledge management Department, Telecommunication Development Bureau.
4 1. 4 Revenue and investment in the telecommunication sector...13 1. 5 Use of ICTS...
107 4. 2 Fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular prices...108 4. 3 Broadband prices...114 4. 4 Income inequality and broadband prices...
140 4. 5 The impact of competition and regulation on telecommunication prices...152 Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring and for development...
175 5. 3 Telecommunication data and their potential for big data analytics...181 5. 4 Big data from mobile telecommunications for development and for better monitoring...
185 5. 5 Challenges and the way forward...195 Chapter 5 Annex...207 List of references...
251 viii List of charts 1. 1 Fixed-telephone subscriptions by level of development, 2005-2014 (left) and by region, 2014 (right...
2 1. 2 Mobile-cellular subscriptions by level of development, 2005-2014 (left) and by region, 2014 (right...
5 1. 4 Active mobile-broadband subscriptions by level of development, 2007-2014 (left) and by region, 2014 (right...
7 1. 6 Rural population covered by at least a 3g mobile network, 2009-2012.8 1. 7 Fibre and microwave routes,
and route metres per capita (right), selected regions, 2013.9 1. 8 Total International Internet bandwidth (Gbit/s), by level of development (left) and regional share (right
), 2004-2013.10 1. 9 International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user, by region, 2004 and 2013.10 1. 10 Percentage of households with Internet access, by level of development
12 1. 12 Proportion of post offices providing public Internet access, by region, 2005-2007 vs 2010-2012.12 1. 13 Telecommunication revenues, world and by level
13 1. 14 Annual investment by telecommunication operators, world and by level of development, 2007-2012, total in USD (left) and annual growth (right...
13 1. 15 Individuals using the Internet, by level of development, 2005-2014 (left) and by region, 2014 (right...
14 1. 16 Growth in daily Google searches, 2007-2013.16 1. 17 Growth in Facebook monthly active users, 2004-2013 (millions of users...
17 1. 18 Wikipedia articles total and English language, 2003-2013 (thousands of articles...17 1. 19 Fixed-broadband access in enterprises using the Internet, selected countries, 2005-2012.19 1. 20 E-government Development Index (EGDI),
2003-2014.20 ix 1. 21 E-government services provided by countries (transactional services, left, and e-participation services, right)..
2013.84 3. 2 IDI values compared with the global, regional and developing/developed-country averages, Africa, 2013.85 3. 3 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
regional and developing/developed-country averages, Europe, 2013.98 3. 11 Percentage of Individuals using the Internet,
and 2013.103 4. 1 Fixed-telephone basket (left) and mobile-cellular basket (right), in PPP$, world and by level of development, 2008-2013.109 4. 2 Fixed
-telephone basket (left) and mobile-cellular basket (right), as a percentage of GNI p. c.,
. c. in Asia and the Pacific, 2013.122 4. 10 Fixed-broadband prices as a percentage of GNI p. c. in Africa, 2013.123 4. 11 Availability of mobile-broadband
services by type of service, by level of development, 2013 and 2012.127 4. 12 Mobile-broadband prices, in PPP$, world and by level of development, 2013.217 4. 13 Mobile
2013.128 4. 14 Mobile-broadband prices as a percentage of GNI p. c.,world and by level of development, 2013.128 xi 4. 15 Mobile-broadband prices
2013.162 4. 24 Variation in mobile-cellular prices(%)explained by each variable, 2013.165 List of figures 2. 1 Three stages in the evolution towards an information society...
78 4. 1 Mobile-broadband services by type of device/plan...125 4. 2 Relationship between regulation, competition and prices...
176 5. 2 An overview of telecom network data...182 5. 3 Customer profiling using telecom big data...
184 xii List of boxes 1. 1 Final review of the WSIS targets: Achievements, challenges and the way forward...
177 5. 2 How Twitter helps understand key post-2015 development concerns...179 5. 3 How mobile operators currently use data to track service uptake, business performance and revenues...
193 List of tables 1. 1 Rural population covered by a mobile-cellular signal, 2012.4 1. 2 Total Internet domain registrations by world region, 2003,2008
102 4. 1 Fixed-telephone sub-basket, 2013.112 4. 2 Mobile-cellular sub-basket, 2013.113 4. 3 Fixed-broadband prices
as a percentage of GNI p. c.,by region, 2013.116 4. 4 Fixed-broadband sub-basket, 2013.124 4. 5 Mobile-broadband prices, postpaid handset
-based 500 MB, 2013.132 4. 6 Mobile-broadband prices, prepaid handset-based 500 MB, 2013.134 4. 7 Mobile-broadband prices
, postpaid computer-based 1 GB, 2013.136 4. 8 Mobile-broadband prices, prepaid computer-based 1 GB, 2013.138 4. 9 Fixed
While the global mobile-cellular market is approaching saturation levels, mobile-broadband uptake continues to grow at double-digit rates in all regions,
The data also show a continuous increase in Internet usage, with growth in the number of Internet users in all countries and increasing availability of online content,
much of which is created user through social media applications and platforms (e g. Twitter, Youtube, Whatsapp. With more and more applications now available through mobile platforms (mobile apps),
and the strong growth in mobile Internet uptake, an increasing number of people are joining,
and participating actively in, the information society. While the information society is growing worldwide, digital divides remain and are even widening in some segments.
affordable high-speed Internet services and the higher levels of skills required to make effective use of online content and services,
This will be followed by a presentation of the latest trends in terms of investment and revenue in the telecom sector.
as Chapter 1. Recent information society developments 2 well as growth in online content and particularly social media.
there are only around a dozen countries where fixed-telephone uptake has increased actually over the past year. 1 Fixed-telephone penetration decreased by about 2 per cent globally in the past year,
The decline in fixed-telephone subscriptions over the past decade was accompanied by strong growth in the mobile-cellular market until 2010, at
there will be almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions (6. 9 billion) as people On earth, more than three quarters of them (5. 4 billion) in the developing world and more than half (3. 6 billion) in the Asia-Pacific region.
While this does not mean that everyone has a mobile phone since many people have more than one subscription
Africa and Asia and the Pacific are the regions with the strongest mobile-cellular growth,
Fixed-telephone subscriptions by level of development, 2005-2014 (left) and by region, 2014*(right) Note:*
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 39.2 26.3 24.9 15.8 12.7 8. 7 1. 3 05 10 15 20 25
the fixed-telephone market is shrinking and the mobile-cellular market is tapering off. In addition, mobile-cellular population coverage has reached 93 per cent globally:
in other words, almost every person on the globe lives within reach of a mobile-cellular signal and,
at least theoretically, has access to mobile communication services. Closer examination and disaggregation of the data reveal,
First, there are populations living in rural areas that are covered not by a mobile-cellular signal (Table 1. 1)
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 162.7 124.7 109.9 108.5 96.4 89.2 69.3 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
140 160 180 Per 100 inhabitants CIS phone. For countries where data are available, the number of mobile subscriptions far exceeds the number of mobile phone users (Partnership, 2014).
No regular pattern can be established, though, and the difference between mobile-phone user penetration and mobile-cellular subscription penetration ranges between 8 per cent (France) and 111 per cent (Panama) across countries.
According to GSMA estimates, unique mobile subscribers account for about half of mobilecellular subscriptions, which would translate into a penetration rate of around 48 per cent globally, 63 per cent in developed countries, 45 per cent in developing countries and 30 per cent in least developed countries (LDCS).
2 Third, household access to a telephone is still not the norm in many developing countries, in particular in LDCS (Partnership, 2014.
For example, according to the latest population and housing census carried out in India in 2011,63 per cent of households had a telephone (up from 9 per cent ten years earlier.
In addition, there were significant differences between urban and rural areas, with 82 per cent of Indian urban households having access to a telephone compared with 54 per cent of rural households. 3 Household telephone penetration in Malawi stood at 36 per cent in 2011 73
per cent in urban households 125.8 96.4 90.2 59.0 Per 100 inhabitants 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Developed World Developing
The urban-rural gap in household telephone access prevails in many developing countries for which data are available,
and mobilebroadband markets Infrastructure deployment providing access to broadband Internet continues to be a priority for telecommunication service providers and governments in most countries.
Rural population covered by a mobile-cellular signal, 2012 Source: Partnership (2014) based on ITU data.
Overall mobile-cellular population coverage(%)Rural population covered(%)Rural population covered (millions) Rural population not covered (millions) Africa 88 79 498
despite low penetration, coincides with a strong growth in mobile-broadband subscriptions in the developing world (see Chart 1. 3). A closer look at different regions shows that Africa,
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 27.7 16.7 14.3 9. 8 7. 7 3. 1 0. 4 05 10 15
1. 4). Mobile broadband is growing fastest in developing countries, where growth rates over the last year are expected to be twice as high as in developed countries (26 per cent,
This is driven by the availability and uptake of more affordable devices (smartphones) and types of plan on offer in the market.
A closer look at the different mobile technologies and their market shares highlights the shift from lower-speed to higher-speed technologies over the past 15 years (Chart 1. 5). In developed countries,
3g subscriptions overtook 2g subscriptions in 2010 and 3g growth is flattening. In developing countries, the large majority of subscriptions are still 2g,
but 3g is growing rapidly and will overtake 2g subscriptions in a few years. 4g4 services came onto the market only recently
and 4g subscriptions still account for only a small market share in both developed and developing countries.
and before fast mobile-broadband services and smartphones entered the market. This has contributed to the higher uptake of fixed broadband in developed countries.
Active mobile-broadband subscriptions by level of development, 2007-2014 (left) and by region, 2014*(right) Note:*
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 83.7 32.0 21.1 6. 3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
for example when people use multiple devices (e g. smartphone, tablet) and SIM CARDS. Looking towards the future, the growth potential for mobile broadband looks promising,
as 7 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Chart 1. 5: Share of mobile subscriptions by technology, 2000-2015, developed countries (left) and developing countries (right) Source:
data based on ITU and Telecom Advisory Services calculations. more and more countries upgrade their mobile networks. As mentioned earlier, 2g population coverage stands at over 90 per cent worldwide.
Data on 3g population coverage are less available. According to ITU estimates, global 3g population coverage stood at around 50 per cent by end 2012,
and there were still sizeable ruralurban gaps. Rural population coverage ranged from 100 per cent in the Gulf countries of United arab emirates
as more and more countries are deploying 3g+technologies and services, and given the strong growth in mobile-broadband subscriptions.
At the same time, the issue of spectrum allocation will have to be addressed to ensure that the increasing demand for high-speed mobile access can be met,
including in rural areas, where the additional spectrum represented by the digital dividend could play a crucial role in universalizing mobile-broadband access.
Backbone and bandwidth The growth in broadband subscriptions is accompanied by continuous growth in national backbone capacities and international Internet bandwidth.
3g 4g%1g 2g 3g 4g%0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Developing countries Chapter
Rural population covered by at least a 3g mobile network, 2009-2012 Source: Partnership (2014) based on ITU data.
Percentage of rural population covered by at least a 3g mobile network 2012 or 2011 Percentage of rural population covered by at least a 3g mobile network 2010 Percentage of rural population covered by at least a 3g mobile network 2009 0000000000001 5 11 31 32 32343638 41
42 42 46 50 50 50 55 555860616365 68 69 69 77 77 7778818486 87 88 8889 90 9092 93
and speed of networks is the amount of international Internet bandwidth available in countries and regions,
Over the past decade, international Internet bandwidth has climbed sharply, from around 1 600 Gbit/s in 2001 to 60 400 Gbit/s in 2010 and more than 140 000 Gbit/s in 2013
ITU Trends in Telecommunication Reform, 2014. of the world. Growth in international bandwidth has been strong in all regions,
Europe leads by far in terms of international Internet bandwidth, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the world's total (2013),
Europe's leadership in international Internet bandwidth is explained by the advanced level of broadband adoption and usage in the region,
and depend on international connections to reach the global Internet. As a result, the Internet backbone network in the region is interlinked by means of several Internet exchange points (IXPS) that interconnect national networks
and give them access to the global Internet. Indeed, some of the world's largest IXPS are located in Europe
and have an international reach, such as for instance the German Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX), the Amsterdam Internet Exchange or the London Internet Exchange. 6 The United kingdom stands out as a prominent global hub for international 3
%2%85%4%6%Africa Arab States Asia & Pacific CIS The americas 0. 4 0. 7 2. 6 1. 6 1
Total international Internet bandwidth (Gbit/s), by level of development (left) and regional share (right), 2004-2013 Source:
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. connectivity, because of the strong internal demand and also its location:
as do several cables linking Western Africa and the Arab States with Europe. 7 International Internet bandwidth in the UK accounts for almost twice as much as Africa, Arab States and CIS combined,
In order to understand better the impact of available international bandwidth on Internet 0 20'000 40'000 60'000 80'000 100'000 120'000 140'000
160'000 Africa Arab States CIS Asia & Pacific The americas Europe International Internet bandwidth (Gbit/s) 2004200520062007200820092010201120122013-20'000 40'000
60'000 80'000 100'000 120'000 140'000 160'000 World Developed Developing International Internet bandwidth (Gbit/s
which differs widely across regions and countries, Chart 1. 9 shows bandwidth per Internet user. This indicator has increased significantly between 2004 and 2013.
Households with Internet access Household access to the Internet is the ultimate way of guaranteeing an inclusive information society in which all people, irrespective of age, gender, employment status,
etc. or possible level of disability, can access the Internet within the privacy and proximity of their own home.
A policy aimed at universal access to broadband Internet will eventually ensure access for all households nationwide.
International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user, by region, 2004 and 2013 Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 221 420 1'213 702 4'384 11'572 8'074 19'037 21
'472 43'072 53'992-10'000 20'000 30'000 40'000 50'000 60'000 70'000 80
'000 2004 2013 161'027 International Internet bandwidth (bit/s per user) Africa Arab States Asia &pacific CIS The Americaseurope 11 Measuring
only 11 per cent of households in Africa have Internet, and growth remains at a high 18.4 per cent,
The Asia and the Pacific region boasts the highest number of households with Internet Chart 1. 10:
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 78.0 57.4 53.0 43.6 36.0 35.9 11.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
and some two-thirds of the household in the region are connected not yet to the Internet.
with differences ranging from 4 per cent (meaning that household Internet penetration in urban areas is 4 per cent higher than in rural areas) in highly developed countries such as Japan and the Republic of korea to 35 per cent in developing countries
In Guatemala, urban households are 12 times more likely to be connected to the Internet than rural households (Partnership
thus preventing rural households from purchasing Internet services. At the same time, the benefits brought by ICTS and the Internet are especially impactful in rural areas,
which often also lack access to other infrastructure and public services. Therefore, connecting rural households to broadband networks should remain a priority for policymakers in all countries.
public access to the Internet plays a greater role in those areas. Data on public access is collected by ITU through its household questionnaire
such as privately operated Internet cafes, as well as community-type facilities, which typically provide Internet access free of charge. Schools also constitute an important location for Internet access, especially in rural areas,
and post offices can play a major role in terms of providing access to the Internet: they are open to the public,
For example, worldwide, only 10 per cent of post offices provide public access to the Internet, even though 31 per cent of post offices have a broadband Internet connection (Chart 1. 11), with major differences across regions (Chart 1. 12).
These numbers refer to 2012, and have increased most probably somewhat today. Nevertheless, there is huge potential
if all post offices were provided with broadband Internet and offered this as a service to the public.
2014 small towns had access to the Internet, while with 60 per cent coverage half of all rural areas would be connected. 9 The World Report series published by the International Federation of Library Associations
and Institutions Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (IFLA/FAIFE) contains information about the extent and growth of public access to the Internet in public libraries from 2007 to 2009.10 While the results point
and there are still a number of countries reporting low rates of public access. 1. 4 Revenue and investment in the telecommunication sector In 2012,
total telecommunication revenue stagnated at around USD 1. 88 trillion, or 2. 7 per cent of world GDP (Chart 1. 13).
The evolution of telecommunication revenues in developed countries follows the overall pattern of their economies as a whole (in the European union, for instance,
and consumer spending on telecommunication services. In addition to the adverse economic context, the voice market in developed countries is declining
thus also exerting pressure on the revenues generated by the strongest growing market segments, such as mobile broadband.
In contrast to the situation in the developed world, developing countries saw a 4 per cent growth in telecommunication revenues in 2012,
This confirms the steady progress of telecommunication revenues seen Chart 1. 13: Telecommunication revenues, world and by level of development, 2007-2012, total in USD (left) and annual growth (right) Note:‘
‘World'includes 103 countries accounting for 96 per cent of world GDP.‘‘Developed'includes 40 developed countries accounting for 99 per cent of total GDP in the developed world.‘
As a result, the developing countries'share of total telecommunication revenues increased from 26 per cent in 2007 to 32 per cent in 2012,
This testifies to the growing importance of the telecommunication sector in the economic growth of the developing world.
For example, in the recent revision of Nigeria's GDP, it was found that the telecommunication industry accounted for more than a quarter of the upgrade in GDP. 12
Chart 1. 14 shows the evolution of investment in telecommunications, which is fundamental to supporting ICT uptake and innovation.
and the reduction in telecommunication investment persisted in 2009(-2 per cent). The overall economic environment of restricted access to capital markets and the efforts of some operators to reduce debt exposure explain the sluggish investment levels seen in 2011 and particularly in 2012.13 In developing countries,
investment in telecommunication infrastructure and services has been more stable, with a smaller drop in 2008(-4 per cent) and moderate growth in the following years (4 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2009 and 2012).
which is compared relatively high with the share of global telecommunication revenues generated in developing countries (32 per cent).
The investment-to-revenue ratio in the telecommunication sector stood at 17 per Chart 1. 14:
Annual investment by telecommunication operators, world and by level of development, 2007-2012, total in USD (left) and annual growth (right) Note:‘
This means that, on average, for each USD 100 generated globally by telecommunication services, USD 17 were reinvested in capital expenditure
and improve telecommunication services). The investment-to-revenue ratio was somewhat lower in developed countries (15 per cent) than in developing countries (22 per cent.
On the one hand, telecommunications is a capital-intensive industry and part of the capital investments are delivered by global equipment providers,
in order to provide incentives for operators to make the investments necessary to bridge the infrastructure gap between developing and developed countries. 1. 5 Use of ICTS Internet users ITU estimates that, by end 2014,
almost 3 billion people will be using the Internet, corresponding to a global penetration rate of 40.4 per cent (Chart 1. 15).
The numbers also show that there are still 4. 3 billion people worldwide who are not yet using the Internet, 90 per cent of
Nevertheless, Internet usage is growing steadily, at 6. 6 per cent in 2014 3. 3 per cent in developed countries and 8. 7 per cent in developing countries.
in developing countries, the number of Internet users will have doubled in five years (2009-2014), and two-thirds of today's Internet users live in the developing world.
Growth rates are highest in LDCS (13 per cent in 2014), but they are starting from low Chart 1. 15:
Individuals using the Internet, by level of development, 2005-2014 (left) and by region, 2014*(right) Note:*
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 78.3 40.4 32.4 8. 0%0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Internet usage varies considerably across regions. In Europe, Internet usage on average is approaching saturation levels, with almost 75 per cent penetration and low growth of 2. 3 per cent during the past year.
In Africa, the region with the lowest Internet penetration rate (19 per cent), Internet usage is growing strongly at 13 per cent,
and almost twice as many people will be online by the end of this year compared with only four years earlier.
The Asia and the Pacific region includes the two most populous countries China and India.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that 45 per cent of the world's Internet users live in this region.
The two countries combined are home to around 860 million Internet users, almost 30 per cent of the world's total and 66 per cent of Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region.
while the percentage of Internet users in China is 46 per cent, it is only 18 per cent in India.
Internet usage in The americas region is relatively high: with almost 66 per cent penetration, it is much higher than household Internet access (57 per cent.
with 19 per cent Internet penetration compared with 11 per cent of households with Internet access.
In view of infrastructure limitations and a lack of affordable services, people are more likely to use the Internet at locations outside the home,
Internet content and use of social media The growth in Internet users has witnessed a parallel, steep growth in the volume of Internet content.
and using social media and other Internet-based applications, covering a large range of topics and sectors.
While measuring online content and website use is a challenging task on account of the sheer volume of information available,
which includes an assessment of Internet content (Partnership, 2014). Some key findings featured in the report are presented below.
Over the past decade, the number of websites has been growing at exponential rates and, according to estimates by Netcraft, there were over 850 million hostnames and approximately 185 million active sites at the beginning of 2014.
Google remains the leading search engine in most countries, and accounts for around 90 per cent of the search market. 16 The number of daily Google searches reached almost 6 billion by end 2013 (Chart 1. 16)
and the total number of searches made through Google in 2013 exceeded 2 trillion. Social media sites have become the most accessed websites by users in both developed Chart 1. 16:
Growth in daily Google searches, 2007-2013 Source: Partnership (2014), based on http://www. statisticbrain. com/google-searches/.
/0 2'000 4'000 6'000 8'000 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Millions of searches 17 Measuring
the Information Society Report 2014 and developing countries. Since its creation in 2004, Facebook has grown to comprise 1. 3 billion active users by end 2013, a growth of 22 per cent over the past year (Chart 1. 17),
although a single user could be operating several accounts and therefore the numbers do not represent unique Internet users (ITU, 2011).
Twitter, the leading international microblogging service, founded in 2007, has grown to comprise 646 million active registered users by end 2013 (and 115 million active monthly users),
and some 58 million tweets were posted daily in the past year. 17 The Chinese microblog service Tencent Weibo accounts for a further 507 million subscribers, out of an estimated 582 million Chinese Internet
subscribers (Partnership, 2014). More than 6 billion hours of video are being watched each month and more than 100 hours of video content are uploaded every minute on Youtube, the leading international videofilesharing site with services in 61 countries.
As of early 2014, Youtube boasted more than 1 billion unique visitors monthly. Other top popular websites include Amazon,
Wikipedia and Linkedin as well as various news and online e-market sites at the national level (see below on e-business).
Wikipedia, the largest and most widely used online encyclopaedia, featured more than 30 million articles by end 2013 (Chart 1. 18).
Articles are now available in 287 languages across 30 million pages of content. By February 2014, Wikipedia registered more than 20 billion page views per month by Internet users.
At the same time, the proportion of articles in English has decreased significantly from 46 per cent in 2003 to 15 per cent in 2013
while those in other languages have increased accordingly, although pages viewed are still predominantly in English
While these numbers illustrate the huge increase in Internet content and usage overall a more nuanced analysis needs to be carried out to identify digital divides.
Growth in Facebook monthly active users, 2004-2013 (millions of users) Source: Partnership (2014), based on http://www. theguardian. com/news/datablog/2014/feb/04/Facebook-in-numbers-statistics, accessed 6 march 2014.
Data sourced from Facebook. 0 500 1'000 1'500 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Millions
of users Chart 1. 18: Wikipedia articles total and English language, 2003-2013 (thousands of articles) Source:
Wikipedia statistics at http://stats. wikimedia. org/EN/Tablesarticlestotal. htm. 0 5'000 10'000 15'000 20'000 25'000
30'000 35'000 Total English Chapter 1. Recent information society developments 18 content generated by countries and regions and highlight the differences.
The proportion of businesses with websites was lower, accounting on average for 71 per cent and ranging from 36 per cent in Romania to 91 per cent in Finland.
a recent Eurostat survey revealed that more and more enterprises are making use of social media. In 2013
around 30 per cent of European enterprises used social media, ranging from 15 per cent of enterprises in Latvia to 55 per cent in Malta. 18 Activities are mostly related to social networks (e g.
Facebook), followed by multimedia content sharing websites (e g. Youtube) and blogs (e g. Twitter. In the developing world, data on ICTS in enterprises are scarce
and only collected by few countries. The proportion of businesses with Internet access varies between 48 per cent in Azerbaijan and 97 per cent in Lebanon. 19 Of these,
Total Internet domain registrations by world region, 2003,2008 and 2013 Source: Partnership (2014. Data supplied by Zooknic,
backbone connectivity and international Internet bandwidth is still lacking in many regions of the developing world.
but governments are also increasingly using the Internet to provide services to their citizens. E-government contributes to increased efficiency
governments of all countries have established central websites and that more than 50 per cent of countries provide links to local and/or regional government agencies'sites (UNDESA, 2014).
Efforts are needed still to connect lower-tier administrations in countries. When it comes to the provision of e-services,
For example, online information and services on government website portals increased threefold, with 70 per cent of countries providing a one-stop shop portal in 2012,
By 2014, all countries had a government web presence, and almost all countries in Europe and the majority of countries in The americas and Asia provided online information on education,
Fixed-broadband access in enterprises using the Internet, selected countries, 2005-2012 Source: UNCTAD Information Economy Database, 2014, available at unctadstat. unctad. org.
ICT use in schools Providing schools with Internet access (in particular broadband Internet) is a basic infrastructure requirement in today's information society.
Access to high-speed Internet is necessary to enable students to use the Internet for educational purposes,
in remote and rural areas schools are indeed often the only place where young people can use the Internet (see section 1. 3 above).
In developing countries, school access to Internet is lower on average, although much progress has been made in recent years.
and given the growth of mobile-broadband services, it may be expected that more and more schools will have broadband access in the near future
Percentage of schools Americas 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Internet Fixed broadband Internet Percentage of schools
resulting in 78 per cent of schools being connected to the Internet in 2013, compared to just 44 per cent in 2009 (Partnership, 2014).
Internet connectivity in schools also depends on the development of the national telecommunication infrastructure and on whether service providers have reached out to rural and sometimes geographically difficult areas with low population density (Partnership, 2014).
While connecting schools to the Internet and other ICTS is essential in order to foster e-education,
with little attention paid to collecting official ICT statistics outside the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with the exception of telecommunication statistics
there are more comparable data on ICT infrastructure, household access and Internet users. For example, at the beginning of the century, only around a dozen developing countries collected data on Internet users,
while today there are almost 50 developing countries collecting this indicator through official surveys (Chart Box 1. 2). Data on household access to the Internet
or a computer are now being collected by more than 100 economies worldwide, and data on Internet use in businesses by almost 70 countries,
although not on a regular basis (Partnership UNSC 2011). Similarly, whereas no data were available on ICT access
Number of countries collecting Internet user data through official surveys, by level of development Note: Chart shows countries that have collected data on the number of Internet users through official national surveys.
Data are presented in three-year intervals and include countries that have collected data for at least one year within those intervals.
and foster access to and increased use of telecommunications/ICTS Target 1. 1: Worldwide, 55%of households should have access to the Internet by 2020 Target 1. 2:
Worldwide, 60%of individuals should be using the Internet by 2020 Target 1. 3: Worldwide, telecommunication/ICTS should be 40%more affordable by 2020a Goal 2. Inclusiveness Bridge the digital divide
and provide broadband for allb Target 2. 1. A: In the developing world, 50%of households should have access to the Internet by 2020 Target 2. 1. B:
In the least developed countries (LDCS), 15%of households should have access to the Internet by 2020 Target 2. 2. A:
In the developing world, 50%of individuals should be using the Internet by 2020 Target 2. 2. B:
In the least developed countries (LDCS), 20%of individuals should be using the Internet by 2020 Target 2. 3. A:
The affordability gap between developed and developing countries should be reduced by 40%by 2020 Target 2. 3. B:
Broadband services should cost no more than 5%of average monthly income in developing countries by 2020 Target 2. 4:
Gender equality among Internet users should be reached by 2020 Target 2. 5. B: Enabling environments ensuring accessible telecommunications/ICTS for persons with disabilities should be established in all countries by 2020 Goal 3. Sustainability Manage challenges resulting from telecommunication/ICT development Target 3. 1:
Cybersecurity readiness should be improved by 40%by 2020d Target 3. 2: Volume of redundant e-waste to be reduced by 50%by 2020 Target 3. 3:
Greenhouse gas emissions generated by the telecommunication/ICT sector to be decreased per device by 30%by 2020 Goal 4. Innovation
and adapt to the changing telecommunication/ICT environment Target 4. 1: Telecommunication/ICT environment conducive to innovation Target 4. 2:
Effective partnerships of stakeholders in the telecommunication/ICT environment society and international organizations should be involved. New data sources could include big data (mostly provided by private-sector companies)
which could help improve the timeliness and completeness of data, without compromising the relevance, impartiality and methodological soundness of the statistics (UNSC, 2014).
provided by, for example, Internet and telecommunication companies. Second, the spread and use of ICTS allow public and private entities across all economic sectors to produce,
The focus is primarily on the telecommunication/ICT sector as a source of big data, including players such as operators and service providers,
in the fixed, mobile and Internet sectors. Delegates attending the eleventh World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) in Mexico city in December 2014 recommended that ITU should further examine the challenges and opportunities of big data,
in particular data coming from ICT companies; that regulatory authorities should explore the development of guidelines on how big data could be produced,
and by whom, in terms of collecting and disseminating big data in telecommunications? What is the role of national statistical offices
How can big data from telecommunications inform not only ICT but broader development policy in real time, leading to prompt and more effective action?
Chapter 1. Recent information society developments 32 1 Refers to countries where fixed-telephone penetration increased by more than 1 per cent in 2014.2 See https://gsmaintelligence. com/.3 http
://www. censusindia. gov. in/2011census/hlo/Data sheet/India/Communication. pdf. 4 4g refers to fourth-generation mobile network or service.
It is a mobile-broadband standard offering both mobility and very high bandwidth, such as long-term evolution (LTE) networks (ITU Trends 2014). 5 Data collection on Europe and North america will follow in 2014.6 For a list of IXPS,
http://submarine-cable-map-2014. telegeography. com. 8 For further discussion on progress made towards connecting rural households to the Internet,
The Economist, April 12 2014, Nigeria's GDP step change. 13 Telefónica, for instance, reduced its net debt by EUR 4 819 million in 2012 after several years of sustained increases in borrowings.
Telefónica Financial Report 2012, p. 18, available at: http://annualreport2012. telefonica. com/pdf/FINANCIERO 2012 ENG. pdf. 14 For example, the cost of buying a mobile cell tower in Europe
and in Africa may not be very different, because only a limited group of large global equipment vendors can deliver it,
but that is only a part of the total CAPEX of telecommunication operators. 15 For instance, the average revenue per user per month for GSM services in India was less than USD 2 in March 2012,
http://www. statisticbrain. com/twitter-statistics/./18 Eurostat news release of 16 december 2013 and http://epp. eurostat. ec. europa. eu/statistics explained/index. php/Social media -statistics on the use by enterprises. 19 Data refer mostly to the year
2011.20 The UN E-government Development Index is a composite benchmarking indicator based on a direct assessment of the state of national online services, telecommunication infrastructure and human capital in all countries.
http://www. itu. int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/events/wtis2013/default. aspx. 34 For further information on the work on big data carried out by the ITU Telecommunication
and includes five infrastructure and access indicators (fixedtelephone subscriptions, mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions, international Internet bandwidth per Internet user, households with a computer,
and usage indicators (individuals using the Internet, fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions, and wireless-broadband subscriptions).
characterizing intense Internet use, and is included therefore in stage 2 (as an indicator in the use subindex).
Indicator definitions and the IDI methodology are discussed in the ITU Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI)
The definitions of the following core indicators of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development included in the IDI were revised at a meeting of EGH held in Brazil in June 2013.3 Percentage of individuals using the Internet:
The suggested reference period for latest Internet usage was changed from the last twelve months to the last three months.
considering that Internet usage is now sufficiently frequent that the majority of users will be captured with the shorter time-frame.
the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) and the Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH.
They periodically report back to the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS), ITU's main forum on ICT statistics.
agreed that the reference values for the indicators international Internet bandwidth per Internet user and mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants would be reviewed.
For international Internet bandwidth per Internet user the methodology used in previous IDI calculations was kept, as there is no limit to the maximum value that could be achieved by a country.
The reference value employed for this indicator is used to screen outlier values. There were three economies that were identified as outliers, namely Hong kong (China), Luxembourg and Malta.
The reference value for mobile-cellular subscriptions was lowered to 120. This value was derived from examining the distribution of countries based on their mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2013.
In order to determine the reference value, prepaid and postpaid mobile markets were examined separately, with the former making up the majority of cases.
For those countries, a mobile-cellular penetration of 120 per cent is the maximum value that was reached by the largest group of countries (23 countries with a mobilecellular penetration between 110 and 120 per cent),
by end 2014, the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions will have reached close to 7 billion, which almost corresponds to the figure for the world's population.
therefore provide a more accurate picture of the actual uptake, use and distribution of mobile-cellular services.
In view of the methodological difficulties in collecting harmonized data on international Internet bandwidth a review of the definition of the indicator is currently under discussion in EGTI.
Revision of the definitions of the indicators percentage of individuals using the Internet (changing the reference period to the last three months)
and similar handheld computers but excluding smartphones). Differences among countries included in the IDI. The calculation of the IDI ranking Chapter 2. The ICT Development Index (IDI) 40 ICT access Reference value(%)1. Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
2. Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 3. International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user 4. Percentage of households with a computer 5. Percentage of households
with Internet access 60 120 787'260*100 100 20 20 20 20 20 ICT use Reference value(%)6. Percentage of individuals using the Internet
7. Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions per 100 inhab. itants 8. Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 100 60 100 33 33 33
The Danish Internet service provider (ISP) TDC is making investments to provide access to ultra-fast speeds for over half a million households. 9 Denmark enjoys abundant international Internet bandwidth of more than 260 000 bit
/s per Internet user in 2013. Denmark tops the IDI use sub-index. The country's broadband market is advanced particularly well.
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 33 35 36 38 40 110 75 87 105 107 0 50 100 150
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. have access to mobile broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbit/s. 10 The Republic of korea ranks second in the IDI 2013.
Fixedbroadband and wireless-broadband penetration stand at top levels at 38 per cent and 105 per cent, respectively (see Chart 2. 1). The Republic of korea was the first country to offer 3g services
leading operator SK TELECOM reported that it passed the 10 million LTE subscriber mark in April 2013;
In July 2013, SK TELECOM launched the world`s first LTE-Advanced Network with speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s. In 2014, the Vice-president of the European commission for the Digital Agenda and the Republic of korea's Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning signed an agreement to work towards a global definition of 5g
International Internet bandwidth is relatively low compared to other top IDI countries, at just over one Tbit/s in 2012.
and domestic Internet bandwidth was compared ten times higher with international bandwidth. Third-placed Sweden records an IDI value of 8. 67 in 2013.
Luxembourg ranks first in the IDI access sub-index with its state-of-the-art infrastructure and large amounts of international Chapter 2. The ICT Development Index (IDI) 48 Internet bandwidth.
By early 2013, virtually all (96 per cent) of EU citizens were covered by a 3g signal and 26 per cent of the population was covered by an LTE network. 12 Denmark,
Data from the EU confirm that household access is correlated highly with regular use of the Internet
which underlines the importance of household access. 14 All European countries included in the top ten of the IDI have a household ICT penetration (both households with a computer and households with Internet) of at least 88 per cent.
of Internet connectivity at home and the availability of mobile Internet translate into high degrees of Internet usage in the IDI's top ten countries.
The Nordic countries stand out with the highest percentage of Internet users globally. In Iceland, 97 per cent of the (in-scope) population is using the Internet and 95 per cent of Norwegians,
Swedes and Danes are online. 19 The availability of international Internet bandwidth is critical for ICT development.
All IDI top performers benefit from the abundant availability of international Internet bandwidth. Bandwidth is highest per Internet user) in such hubs as Luxembourg, Iceland,
Sweden and the United kingdom. Hong kong (China) made its entry into the top ten of the IDI 2013, up from 11th position in 2012.
The economy ranks in ninth position, with an IDI value of 8. 28. Hong kong (China) is particularly strong on the access sub-index of the IDI,
in which it ranks fourth. As an international financial hub, the regulator has made the provision of international Internet bandwidth a policy priority
in order to secure reliable and low-latency Internet connectivity (see MIS 2013). In 2013, international Internet bandwidth stood at 1. 7 million bit/s per Internet user,
which is the second highest value after Luxembourg's. Hong kong (China) has the second highest fixed-telephone penetration globally, at 63 per cent,
and relatively high levels of household ICT connectivity, at 80 per cent of households with Internet and 82 per cent with a computer.
Both fixed-broadband (31 per cent) and wirelessbroadband (95 per cent) penetration are very high in Hong kong (China.
Dynamic IDI countries Even though most countries do not dramatically increase in IDI rank within a year,
Globally, the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions20 grew by 24 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
High increases in wireless-broadband subscriptions can be seen in countries that were late adopters of 3g technology.
In the Republic of the Congo, 3g was launched in late 2011 by Airtel Congo, and the entry of a second operator (MTN Congo) is reflected in a significant increase in penetration rate from 2 per cent in 2012 to 11 per cent in 2013 (Agence de Régulation des Postes
which added significant amounts of international Internet bandwidth and increased international Internet bandwidth per Internet user from around 6 000 bit/s in 2012 to close to 12 000 bit/s per user
It provides international Internet connectivity, which is of particular importance for enabling an island state such as Cape verde to join the information society.
and by 2013 operator CVMOVEL had expanded 3g services to all the islands of the archipelago. 23 Bhutan is one of the most dynamic countries in the use sub-index, moving up eight places.
While mobilebroadband services were introduced as early as 2008 by state-owned operator Bhutan Telecom (under its B-Mobile brand),
major developments took place in 2013 that helped to boost penetration from only 2. 5 per cent in 2012 to 16 per cent in 2013 (see Chart 2. 3). Bhutan Telecom expanded its 3g services,
Bhutan Telecom launched its high-speed 4g services in Thimphu Chart 2. 3: Wireless-broadband penetration, Bhutan, 2008-2013 Source:
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 0. 0 0. 1 0. 3 1. 0 2. 5 15.6 02468 10 12
The launch of mobile-broadband services by the country's only private-owned operator Tashi Cell in late 2013 has helped to increase coverage and competition in the market,
uptake is ascribed also to the growing popularity of social media and increased availability of smartphones. 26 Bolivia is among the most dynamic countries on the access sub-index(+4 ranks),
and also shows good progress in the generally more dynamic use sub-index(+5 ranks.
The country reported an important increase in international Internet bandwidth. International Internet bandwidth per Internet user27 almost doubled between 2012 and 2013, climbing to 9 000 bit/s per user.
While this is still one of the lowest absolute figures in The americas region (only Cuba has a lower bandwidth per Internet user),
it indicates that good progress in being made in improving connectivity in the country. Bolivia has seen an important increase in wireless-broadband penetration, from 7 per cent in 2012 to 14 per cent in 2013.
In order to increase rural connectivity, landlocked Bolivia launched its first telecommunication satellite Tupac Katari in late 2013.28 ENTEL Bolivia's state-owned operator is contracting capacity from Tupac Katari
and a high amount of international Internet bandwidth (close to 82 000 bit/s per Internet user). 30 It is well-connected to its neighbouring countries in the CIS region
In particular, the country was very successful in connecting households to the Internet penetration increased from 27 per cent in 2012 to 35 per cent in 2013
The proportion of households with Internet stands at 96 per cent and the proportion of households with a computer at 97 per cent in 2013 (see Chart 2. 4). A report by ICTQATAR shows that Qataris are not only almost all very well-connected at home,
Over the period 2012-2013, the ownership of devices such as mobile phones and laptops increased significantly within the country's mainstream population. 32 The report also highlights discrepancies in ICT connectivity between Qataris and westerners
While virtually all Qataris and westerners have an Internet connection at home, penetration stands at 85 per cent for the overall population.
Smartphone penetration is also much lower among transient labourers (24 per cent. Therefore, increasing the penetration of newer devices such as smartphones and tablets,
particularly in specific demographic segments like the transient labour population is one of the policy recommendations brought forward by the report (ICTQATAR 2014).
Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptions Fixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions
Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband
Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Bolivia 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile
-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed
-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Bosnia and herzegovina 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0
. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone
subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Burkina faso 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4
0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed
-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Cape verde 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0
. 6 0. 8 1 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a
computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Estonia 2012 2013 53
. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptions Fixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active
. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions
Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet
Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Gambia 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2
0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed
-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Mali 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0
. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone
subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Oman 2012 2013 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4
0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user Households with
a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Qatar 2012 2013 Chapter
Proportion of households with a computer and proportion of households with Internet access, 2012-2013, Qatar ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 91.5 88.1 97.2 96.4 0
more than 7 million new mobile-cellular subscriptions and close to 28 million new wireless-broadband subscriptions were added within one year.
Penetration rates stand at 138 per cent for mobile-cellular and 52 per cent for wireless-broadband services by end 2013.
The launch of 3g was anticipated much in Thailand, following the long delay in the auctioning of 3g licences.
In December 2012, licences were awarded finally to three Thai operators, 34 providing high-speed mobile Internet connectivity to users.
The rapid uptake of mobile-broadband services was spurred by heated competition among operators offering subsidized smartphones
and promotions on mobile data plans. 35 During 2013, operators further extended their wireless infrastructure and services throughout Thailand,
ITU. 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user
Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptions Fixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracy Thailand 2012
2013 0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 Mobile-cellular subscriptions International Internet bandwidth per Internet user
Households with a computer Households with Internet Fixed-telephone subscriptionsfixed-broadband Internet users subscriptions Active mobilesubscriptions broadband Secondary enrolment Tertiary enrolmentliteracyunited Arab Emirates 2012
Fixed-telephone penetration is decreasing in developing and developed countries. Mobile-cellular subscription growth rates are slowing down,
indicating that mobile-cellular penetration is nearing saturation, including in developing countries. The growth in household ICT connectivity is much higher in developing countries,
where around threequarters of households are connected not yet to the Internet, leaving ample room for growth.
This also holds true for international Internet bandwidth which is still at very low levels in many developing countries.
While many developing countries saw important increases in their use sub-index value following the introduction of 3g services in 2012/2013,
In 2014, close to 4. 3 billion people, most of them living in the developing world, were not using the Internet.
International Internet bandwidth availability is limited very, thus constraining Internet connectivity and driving up ICT prices,
which in turn hampers usage of ICTS. Few households (less than 5 per cent in the majority of LCCS) are connected to the Internet
and fewer than 5 per cent of households in all LCCS have a computer. Basic voice services are more widely available although LCCS like Eritrea (6 per cent),
Today, in the majority of LCCS, few people use the Internet: an estimated less than 2 per cent the population is online in Eritrea, Myanmar, Guinea, Niger and Ethiopia.
ICT skills and fixed telecommunication infrastructure. Table 2. 9: Partial correlation analysis of IDI, population and geographic characteristics Control Variable Correlations IDI Population size Population density Land area Urban population GNI per capita IDI
On the other hand, 3g mobilecellular coverage was comparatively low for 0123456789 10 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 GNI p. c. USD) r=0. 775 IDI
Access to the Internet (be it narrowband or broadband, fixed or wireless) is extremely low for rural households in developing countries,
they also often lack the economic means to pay for broadband Internet services, as well as the skills to make effective use of ICTS.
and enrolment in primary education) and Goal 8 (fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular penetration and percentage of Internet users) were considered not,
support the development of multilingualism on the Internet; and ensure access to ICTS for more than half of world's inhabitants.
In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications 8. 14 Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 8. 15 Mobile-cellular
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 8. 16 Internet users per 100 inhabitants+++Note:****Significant at 0. 01 level.*
The use of smartphones to capture essential data on the patients and monitor their treatment has accelerated progress.
Furthermore, ICTS such as mobile phones and the Internet can help inform people and allow them to share information on the use
and facilitating the monitoring of health via SMS and increased availability of information thanks to the Internet.
https://ec. europa. eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/DAE%20scoreboard%202013%20-%20 3-INTERNET%20use%20and%20skills
. eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/DK%20%20-%20broadband%20markets. pdf. 10 http://www. gsma. com/spectrum/wp
/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/DAE%20scoreboard%202013%20-%202-BROADBAND%20 MARKETS%20. pdf. 13 http://europa. eu
/pdf/ppp/5g factsheet. pdf. 14 https://ec. europa. eu/digital-agenda/sites/digital-agenda/files/DAE%20scoreboard%202013%20-%203
-INTERNET%20 USE%20and%20skills. pdf. 15 Qatar (ranked 34th) has 97 per cent of households with a computer by end 2013.15 https://ec. europa. eu
and the European union define superfast services as those delivering download speeds of 30 Mbit/s or more. 18 https://ec. europa. eu/digital-agenda/en/pillar-4-fast-and-ultra
the in-scope population for data on Internet users is aged individuals 16-74.20 Refers to the indicator active mobile-broadband subscriptions.
/and http://news. aouaga. com/documents/docs/Rapportarcep. pdf. 22 http://www. thisdaylive. com/articles/a-year-after-wacs-is-faster-more-affordable-mobile-broadband
/and http://wacscable. com/index. jsp. 23 http://www. cvmovel. cv/nacional-gsm-3g-edge-e-gprs. 24 http://www. telecomasia
. net/content/bhutan-telecom-expand-3g-network. 25 http://www. tashigroup. bt/?/p=1058 and http://www. kuenselonline. com/tashicell-goes-3g/#.
/#U4rlg3ksx8e. 26 http://www. kuenselonline. com/530-increase-in-mobile-broadband-users/#./#U4rsghksx8e. 27 Purchased capacity.
Endnotes 81 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 28 http://www. bbc. com/news/world-latin-america-26850393.29 http://www. entel. bo
/WCM GLOBAL CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/library+ntc/internetsite/eng/en interesting articles/en interesting articles detail/ae185900400633288ac5ceabcb3fbcab. 35 http://www. telecompaper. com/news/thai-operators-reduce-prices-of-smartphone
-data-plans--900198.36 http://www. telegeography. com/products/commsupdate/articles/2013/05/09/true-4g-launch-trumps-rivals-ais-claims-800000
It presents IDI results separately for each of the six ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) regions (Africa, Americas, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Commonwealth of independent states (CIS) and Europe), 1
Significant increases in mobile-cellular penetration from 2012 to 2013 were registered also in Guinea (from 49 per cent to 63 per cent),
Mozambique (from 35 per cent to 48 per cent) and the Republic of the Congo (from 31 per cent to 44 per cent)( see Chart 3. 3). A lack of international Internet bandwidth is seriously hampering ICT development
African countries are lacking international Internet connectivity. Chart 3. 3: Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2012 and 2013, Africa Note:
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2012 2013 Per 100 inhabitants
Rep.),Chad and Nigeria have less than 1 000 bit/s of international Internet bandwidth per Internet user at their disposal.
Kenya has the highest amount of international Internet bandwidth, both in total and per Internet user,
Seychelles (24 000 bit/s) and Mauritius (24 500 bit/s) also have relatively high amounts of bandwidth per Internet user, partly because of their very small populations and hence small number of Internet users.
by end 2013, on average, less than 10 per cent of households in the region had access to the Internet at home,
While 3g networks are continuing to be built and expanded across the region, numerous countries saw some important increases in penetration from 2012 to 2013.
In Burkina faso, 3g was launched finally in 2013, reaching a penetration of 9 per cent by end 2013.
Africa was home to 150 million Internet users by end 2013. This corresponds to around 17 per cent of the population in the region.
Only Djibouti (30 per cent) and Syria (56 per cent) still had a very low mobile-cellular penetration in 2013.
Furthermore, the very high mobile-cellular penetration rates reached in the GCC countries are driven by large transient worker and expatriate populations.
Data from household surveys show that the actual number of people using a mobile-cellular phone is much lower than the number of subscriptions.
In Tunisia, 72 per cent of individuals were using a mobile-cellular phone, compared with a mobile-cellular penetration of 118 per cent in 2012.
Egypt reported a penetration of 120 per cent by end 2012, compared with 74 per cent of individuals using a mobile-cellular phone.
Fixed-telephone penetration is extremely low in the Arab States region with a regional average of 9 per cent in 2013.
This further highlights the importance of mobile networks in the region. The Arab States region and in particular the GCC countries are well-connected to submarine Internet cables.
The United arab emirates boasts the highest amount of international Internet bandwidth per Internet user (around 52 000 bit/s per user) in the region.
Furthermore, the country almost doubled its Internet bandwidth between 2012 and 2013. Oman, too, saw a significant increase in total international Internet bandwidth, up from 17 792 Mbit/s in 2012 to 82 010 Mbit/s in 2013.
In 2013 the Europe-Persia Express Gateway that connects the United arab emirates and Oman to Germany via the Islamic Republic of Iran went live,
increasing the region's international Internet connectivity. 6 Furthermore, the Gulf Bridge International (GBI) system completed its North Route terrestrial link in 2013,
which connects the Gulf region to Europe. 7 Chart 3. 4: IDI values compared with the global, regional and developing/developed-country averages, Arab States, 2013 Source:
Morocco was able to connect a significant number of households to the Internet in 2013,
Omantel provides discounted broadband Internet offers for eligible customers. 8 Wireless-broadband penetration levels vary considerably across the region.
as 3g licences were awarded finally to three Algerian operators by end 2013.10 Penetration is also extremely low in Yemen (0. 3 per cent),
and also reflect the fact that mobile-broadband services in the lower-income countries are much less affordable than in the high-income Arab States (see Chapter 3). Fixed-broadband penetration is generally low in the Arab States
also reach Internet user penetration rates of 50 and 56 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, in the LCCS Mauritania and Djibouti, less than 10 per cent of the population are online. 3. 3 Asia
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 2012 2013 Per 100 inhabitants Bahrain United Arab Emiratesqatar 0 20 40 60 80 100
and the Pacific countries have reached a mobile-cellular penetration of 100 per cent or above by end 2013.
Nepal achieved a mobile-cellular penetration rate of 71 per cent in 2013 up from 60 per cent in 2012.
In China, more than 100 million new mobile-cellular subscriptions were added in 2013, taking the penetration rate up to 89 per cent.
Hong kong (China) has the highest amount of international Internet bandwidth in the region, and indeed one of the highest volumes in the world, at close to 9. 5 million Mbit/s12 by end 2013.
As a regional hub and international financial centre, Hong kong (China) relies upon a secure and low-latency Internet connection,
and the telecommunication regulator has made the attraction of international submarine cables a policy priority13 (see MIS 2013,
international Internet connectivity was boosted in these countries. Additional international Internet bandwidth is of particular importance for sustaining ICT growth
and ensuring Internet connectivity for an increasing number of users in populous countries such as China (with an estimated 600 million Internet users) and the Philippines (with an estimated 36.5 million Internet users by end 2013).
Within the Philippines, domestic connectivity was improved further by connecting some of the Chart 3. 6:
which went live in the summer of 2013.15 Regional Internet connectivity was enhanced further when the Tonga Cable, connecting Fiji and Tonga,
a number of countries in Asia and the Pacific have very low levels of international Internet connectivity;
these include, in particular, the landlocked and least connected countries Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal, with less than 4 000 bit/s per Internet user.
since 2008, computers have replaced telephones as the most commonly available ICT device in Thai homes.
In Thailand, where 3g was launched very late, wireless-broadband penetration went up from 11 per cent in 2012 to more than 50 per cent in 2013.
with China Mobile entering the fixed-line market. 17 China's broadband strategy, published in August 2013, underlines the importance of broadband as a strategic public infrastructure for China's economic and social development in the new age.
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 2012 2013 Per 100 inhabitants 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Macao, Chinasingapore
(I. R.)Lao P. D. R. Afghanistan Myanmarpakistan Bangladesh 95 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 household penetration of 50 per cent and a 3g penetration
This includes around 600 million Chinese and 200 million Indian Internet users. Comparing the two the proportion of the population using the Internet is much higher in China (44 per cent) than India (15 per cent.
India has one of the lowest rates in the region (and globally: only Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao P. D. R.,Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Solomon islands recorded a lower proportion of Internet users.
Japan (86 per cent), the Republic of korea (85 per cent) and Australia and New zealand (both 83 per cent) exhibit the highest rates in the Asia
the CIS region had the highest mobile-cellular penetration of all regions, at Chart 3. 8:
In the majority of CIS countries, at least four mobile operators are active in the market.
measured as the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions, can give no more than an indication of the actual number of subscribers
(i e. a mobile-cellular penetration of above 100 per cent does not mean that every inhabitant has a mobile-cellular subscriptions).
In Georgia, 18 per cent of households did not have access to a mobilecellular telephone in 2012,
with less than 10 per cent of households in the country having access to the Internet.
Total international Internet bandwidth is by far highest in the Russian Federation, which is connected through a number of terrestrial links to both Europe
in terms of bandwidth per Internet user the country is below most other CIS countries. International Internet bandwidth per Internet user is highest in Moldova (115 845 bit/s per user),
followed by Belarus (94 797 bit/s per user) and Georgia (82 094 bit/s per user).
which hampers Internet connectivity and hence further development of the ICT sector in those countries.
The Russian Federation was one of the first countries in the region to launch 3g services in 2007.21 Since then,
further Internet connectivity. LTE services were launched in the Russian Federation in 2012.22 The highest growth in wirelessbroadband penetration from 2012 to 2013 took place in Georgia from 9 per cent in 2012 to 17 per cent in 2013 placing it among the most dynamic
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 2012 2013 Per 100 inhabitants Belarus 05 10 15 20 25 30 35 Azerbaijanrussian Federationmoldova
on average, 92 per cent of European union citizens (the majority of countries in the region are members of the EU) had access to a mobile phone in 2013 (European commission, 2014b.
The region benefits from an abundant supply of international Internet bandwidth. The highest levels are reached in international hubs such as Germany, Luxembourg and the United kingdom. High amounts of bandwidth per Internet user,
as registered in most European countries, ensure that a large number of Internet users can go online at high speeds.
Around three-quarters of European households have access to the Internet at home. The highest proportions of households connected to the Chart 3. 10:
IDI values compared with the global, regional and developing/developed-country averages, Europe, 2013 Source:
Czech Republicportugal Polandslovakia Hungary Bulgariaserbiacyprusromaniatfyr Macedoniamontenegro Turkey Albania Bosnia and herzegovina 99 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Internet are found in Iceland (96 per cent), Luxembourg
Among the countries that made the most progress in connecting households to the Internet from 2012 to 2013 are Italy (from 63 to 69 per cent), Czech republic (from 65 to 73 per cent) and Estonia (from 75 to 80 per cent.
In Albania, the incumbent operator launched its 3g services in early 2013, increasing competition in the market. 25 Operators in Slovakia and Romania have extended
Percentage of Individuals using the Internet, Europe compared to global and developedcountry average, 2013 Note:
Data on Individuals using the Internet for Eurostat members are sourced from Eurostat. Eurostat collects data for Internet users aged 16-74 years old.
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. World Developed 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100%101 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 penetration stands
at 6 per cent, all European countries exceed the global average penetration. A well-developed ICT infrastructure and the availability of high-speed broadband Internet access and relevant content are reflected in a higher proportion of Internet users in the region.
Close to half a billion Europeans were online in 2013, which corresponds to 73 per cent of the population.
Iceland has the highest proportion of Internet users globally at 96.5 per cent, followed by three other Nordic countries Norway,
Sweden and Denmark with 95 per cent of the population using the Internet. Turkey has the lowest proportion of Internet users, at below 50 per cent.
In Romania, too, less than half of the population are online (Chart 3. 11). 3. 6 The americas The United states
ranking 125th in the IDI 2013 as against 122nd in 2012 (see Table 3. 8). The country's mobile-cellular Chart 3. 12:
The country's Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba has one of the last state telecommunication-sector monopolies in the world.
International Internet connectivity, measured in bit/s per Internet user, is ample in the United states and Canada,
Colombia managed to quadruple its amount of international Internet bandwidth from around 20 000 bit/s per Internet user in 2012 to close to 80 000 bit/s in 2013.
The americas region has a relatively high household ICT penetration. By end 2013, on Table 3. 8:
per cent of households had Internet, which is the second highest regional average after Europe (76 per cent).
In addition, however, some of their Latin american neighbours boast a significant proportion of households connected to the Internet:
and by negotiating agreements with telecom operators to offer discounted price plans (Galperin, 2012). Through national broadband plans, governments in The americas are recognizing the potential of ICTS to support economic development.
while Mexico and the Dominican republic both improved by five percentage points to 31 per cent and 19 per cent of households with Internet by end 2013, respectively.
reaching 42 per cent and 36 per cent of households with Internet by end 2013,
or further extended 3g coverage in 2013, spurring growth in the mobile sector. The United states has the highest wirelessbroadband penetration, at 94 per cent by end Chart 3. 13:
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2012 2013 Per 100 households
The operator Verizon had achieved 97 per cent LTE population coverage, and the majority of all data traffic is carried by the LTE network. 27 Very high increases were reported by Brazil,
particularly those that were late adopters of mobile-broadband technology such as Dominica, Grenada and St vincent and the Grenadines, have significantly higher fixedbroadband than wireless-broadband penetration rates.
Close to 1 billion people are using the Internet in The americas region. While the highest proportion of individuals using the Internet is to be found in the United states and Canada,
more than half of the population is online in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela. 105 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 1 See:
The higher the CV, the greater the dispersion in the variable. 3 http://www. cvmovel. cv/nacional-gsm-3g-edge-e-gprs. 4 http://www. telegeography
itmid=110.8 http://www. omantel. om/Omanweblib/Individual/Internet/pc initiative. aspx? linkid=3&menuid=420 and http://www. ita. gov. om/ITAPORTAL/Pages/Page. aspx?
n=4392ef47-A715-496f-BF1D-A0ee8b74d0e7&d=20140128.10 http://www. telecompaper. com/news/algeria-awards-3g-licences-to-all-three-bidders--972965.11
Internet user data from Gulf countries are not comparable, as they refer to different populations. Data from Bahrain and Qatar refer to the overall population,
/en/industry focus/telecommunications/facility based/infrastructures/submarine cables/index. html. 14 http://submarinenetworks. com/systems/intra-asia/sjc/sjc-cable-system. 15 http
://www. submarinecablemap. com/#/submarine-cable/boracay-palawan-submarine-cable-system. 16 http://web. nso. go. th/en/survey/data survey/560619 2012 information-pdf. 17 http
/18 http://file. eu-chinapdsf. org/Internet/PUB/Activity4/Results%203/Broadband%20china%20introduction yu%20xiaohui. pdf. 19 Belarus, Moldova, Russian
/the-eagle-has landed-incumbent-swoopsinto-3g-sector/./26 Data reported by the country refer to 2012.27 http://www. verizonwireless. com/wcms/consumer/4g lte. html
and http://www. telecompaper. com/news/verizon-wirelesslte-reaches-500-markets--952458.28 http://www. rcrwireless. com/article/20121214/carriers/claro-first-launch
In Brazil, for instance, 44 per cent of all households with a computer did not have Internet in 2013
although not having Internet at home may be more attributable to other factors, such as lack of interest,
In the European union, around one in five households without Internet cite cost as the reason,
and seven out of ten of those who have Internet state that price is the most important factor
over half of EU citizens limit their national mobile phone calls because of concerns about cost (European commission, 2014.
The effects of competition in driving prices down and fostering innovation have been most apparent in the mobile-cellular market,
where low prepaid prices became a key enabler for the mass uptake of mobile-cellular services observed in the developing world in the last decade;
but they also apply to other telecommunication markets. Regulation sets the framework for competition, and is thus the lever
which telecommunication administrations may exert more direct control. They therefore merit particular attention. This chapter will present
They include end-2013 data for each of the three price sets contained in the IPB (fixed-telephone
The methodological details of the IPB and the collection of mobile-broadband prices can be found in Annex 2. 4. 2 Fixed-telephone
and mobile-cellular prices Traditional voice services4 and SMS have become the most ubiquitous ICT services,
For instance, only 9 per cent of households had a telephone in India in 2001 compared with 32 per cent of households with a TV and 35 per cent of 109 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 households with a radio.
63 per cent of households had a telephone, 47 per cent a TV and 20 per cent a radio. 5 Despite the decline in fixed-telephone subscriptions over the last decade,
fixed telephony remains the most widespread ICT service based on fixed (wired) telecommunication networks. Global fixedtelephone penetration stood at 16 per cent by end 2013,
The coverage gaps in the fixed-telephone network have been filled by the mobile-cellular network, which covers 93 per cent of the global population.
This compares with a global 3g coverage of around 50 per cent by end 2012
highlighting that mobile-broadband services are likewise less available than mobile voice and SMS (see Chapter 1). Subscription figures confirm this:
despite double-digit mobile-broadband growth rates, there are three times as many mobilecellular voice subscriptions as mobile-broadband subscriptions, with almost as many mobilecellular subscriptions as people on earth.
International voice traffic is also predominantly mobile in most countries, although the number of international fixed-telephone minutes still exceeds international mobile voice minutes in one in four countries.
This situation occurs more frequently in the developed world: there is more fixed than mobile international telephone traffic in 36 per cent of the developed countries,
as against only 18 per cent of the developing countries. These differences are consistent with the higher fixed-telephone penetration rates recorded in developed countries almost four times higher than in developing countries;
differences in mobile-cellular penetration are smaller. These findings highlight that fixed telephony is used still more than mobile telephony in some countries for making international calls.
Such a ubiquitous uptake of voice services would not have been possible without affordable prices. Chart 4. 1 shows the evolution of fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular prices in the period 2008-2013.
A basic fixed-telephone service costs on average PPP$ 18.7 (or USD 13.9) per month by end 2013;
Fixed-telephone basket (left) and mobile-cellular basket (right), in PPP$, world and by level of development, 2008-2013 Note:
Based on 140 economies for which 2008-2013 data on fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular prices were available.
the results roughly confirm that fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular prices are the cheapest among ICT services,
suggesting that low prices have contributed to the widespread adoption of traditional voice and SMS services.
Fixed-telephone prices have followed an almost flat evolution, with a small decrease in prices observed during the period in developing countries(-1. 3 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the developing world in the period 2008-2013).
The fixed-telephone market is the most mature segment of those included in the ITU price data collection exercise.
or partially liberalized their fixed-telephone market in 2008, compared with 88 per cent in 2013.
and the deregulation of retail fixed-telephone prices. The cheapest fixed-telephone prices are found in countries where there is still strong government control over the main fixed-telephone operator,
such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Cuba and Moldova, where basic fixed-telephone services cost less than USD 0. 5 per month (Table 4. 1). Mobile-cellular prices have declined in the period
2008-2013, with a CAGR of-5. 7 per cent globally. The decrease in prices has affected developed and developing countries alike, with-4. 3 and-6. 4 per cent CAGR, respectively.
In developing countries, the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions almost doubled in the period 2008-2013.
The top countries with the cheapest prepaid mobile-cellular plans are all from the developing world,
including 15 countries where a low-usage monthly mobile-cellular plan costs less than USD 5 per month (Table 4. 2). Most countries with the cheapest prepaid mobile
with Sri lanka (USD 0. 95 or PPP$ 2. 6 per month) and Bangladesh (USD 1. 41 or PPP$ 4. 0 per month) standing out with the lowest prepaid mobile-cellular
. so as to provide an insight into the affordability of fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular services from a demand-side perspective (Chart 4. 2). From this perspective,
Fixed-telephone basket (left) and mobile-cellular basket (right), as a percentage of GNI p. c.,world and by level of development, 2008-2013 Note:
Based on 140 economies for which 2008-2013 data on fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular prices were available.
2010 2011 2012 2013 Developing World Developed As a%of GNI p. c. average in developing countries is explained by the large dispersion of fixed-telephone prices in the developing world:
Malawi and Madagascar (Table 4. 1). If the affordability target set by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development for broadband prices (less than 5 per cent of monthly GNI p. c. by 2015) were applied to fixed-telephone prices,
By end 2013, a low-usage prepaid mobile-cellular service cost on average 1. 6 per cent of GNI p. c. in developed countries,
The affordability of basic mobile-cellular services remains a major barrier to further adoption in several African countries:
of the 20 countries with the least affordable mobile-cellular prices in 2013,16 were from Africa.
Despite Kenya being one of the most dynamic mobile markets in Africa and having the twelfth cheapest prices in USD in the world (USD 3. 8 for a low-user basket in 2013),
. on account of the country's low-income level. 10 Further reductions in mobile-cellular prices could be achieved by combining regulatory actions to promote competition such as fostering inter-operator competition
Fixed-telephone sub-basket, 2013 Note:**Data correspond to the GNI per capita (Atlas method) in 2013
Rank Economy Fixed-telephone sub-basket GNI p. c.,USD, 2013*Rank Economy Fixed-telephone sub-basket GNI p. c
Rank Economy Mobile-cellular sub-basket GNI p. c.,USD, 2013*Rank Economy Mobile-cellular sub-basket GNI p. c
and the role of competition 114 Mobile-cellular services are very affordable in most developed countries,
This suggests that cost may be a barrier for further uptake of mobile-cellular services in these countries,
high-capacity and reliable Internet services. Despite the growth of mobile-broadband subscriptions, less than 3 per cent of global IP traffic corresponded to mobile networks by end 2013 according to CISCO estimates (CISCO, 2013.
Until deployments of advanced mobile-broadband technologies13 become more widespread, fixed broadband remains the de facto option for accessing high-volume Internet applications such as file sharing (less than 1 per cent of total filesharing traffic was transmitted through mobile networks in 2013)
and Internet video (2 per cent of total Internet video traffic was transmitted through mobile networks in 2013).
Therefore, some of the potential benefits of broadband as a development enabler, such as for instance its use in education (see Featured Insight 10 in Broadband Commission,
2013a), depend on fixed-broadband uptake in the near future. In addition, CISCO estimates that 45 per cent of total mobile data traffic was offloaded onto fixed networks in 2013 (CISCO,
2014), highlighting the role that fixed broadband plays in supporting the growth in mobile-broadband networks.
including the incumbent Rostelecom, Mobile Telesystems OJSC (MTS) and ER-Telecom. The national fixed-broadband market in the Russian Federation is
where there was only 20 000 Mbit/s of international Internet bandwidth to share among more than 300 000 fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions in 2013.
The scarcity of international Internet bandwidth is confirmed further by the fact that the entry-level plan in Uzbekistan is capped at 1. 2 GB of usage per month,
and is concentrated relatively, dominated by Kyrgyz Telecom. These factors suggest that regulatory measures to promote competition
along with Tunisia (Chart 4. 7). Tunisie Telecom offers regular ongoing promotions for ADSL services with some of the most advantageous prices in the region:
USD 6. 1, by far the cheapest price offered by an incumbent operator in the Arab States for an Internet service at speeds above 512 kbit/s. The relatively low fixed (wired)- broadband 119
international Internet bandwidth is limited very in the country: 620 Mbit/s in 2013, more than 40 times less than any other Arab country included in the comparison of fixed-broadband prices.
This means that if one-third of fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions in Mauritania try to access the international Internet at the same time,
which include specific entry-level fixed-broadband plans offered by the state-owned telecom operator ANTEL (ITU,
As a result, dial-up (narrowband) Internet remains the de facto technology for Internet access by residential customers in the island. 19 Asia
Because of their geographic situation, one of the main challenges facing these countries is international Internet bandwidth.
e g. by concentrating international traffic in a regional Internet exchange point and sharing the cost of building a high-capacity international link from there.
Mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the most dynamic telecommunication market, the only one displaying sustained double-digit growth rates since 2008 (Chapter 1). According to ITU estimates,
around 50 per cent of the global population are covered by a 3g network, and this figure will grow as more and more mobilebroadband networks are deployed, until eventually 3g coverage approaches mobilecellular coverage (93 per cent).
As 3g networks become ubiquitous and therefore accessible to most of the population, affordability will be one of the most decisive factors for actual uptake of mobile broadband.
The dynamism of the mobile-broadband market is reflected also in prices. Unlike the fixedbroadband market, where price structures are fairly homogenous across countries and stable in time,
mobile-broadband prices vary and operators are continuously launching innovative offers to try to attract new customers.
On top of the main types of mobile-broadband plans for which ITU collects data on prices (Figure 4. 1),
operators are adding plans for specific devices, such as tablets, Mifi dongles, Blackberry, etc. Some operators, like for instance Rogers in Canada
and Verizon in the United states, are allowing customers to pool the data consumed by different devices in a single subscription. 23 In addition,
and SMS. This makes it difficult to isolate the prices of mobile-broadband services, particularly for postpaid plans where it is sometimes cheaper to buy a package including Internet,
voice and SMS than to contract only Internet. Fixed-broadband and mobile-broadband Internet prices follow different pricing structures,
and therefore the analysis of mobile-broadband prices cannot be based on the same parameters used for fixed broadband.
In the case of fixed Internet access the progress from narrowband (dial-up to broadband brought not only a change in speed but also in pricing.
Dial-up was priced on the basis of usage (usually billed per minute/hour), whereas fixed-broadband Internet usually follows a flat-rate arrangement,
whereby the customer pays a monthly fee and has unlimited access to the Internet at a given speed, with neither time nor data volume constraints.
This is the common scheme in a vast majority of countries, where fixed-broadband plans are unlimited
and the differentiating factor is speed the of the connection (Table 4. 4). Mobile-broadband plans are seldom based on flat-rate schemes,
This reflects the stricter bandwidth constraints of mobile-broadband networks, and particularly the spectrum limitations in the access network.
if new spectrum is allocated for mobile broadband (for instance, part of the digital dividend) and mobile-broadband networks are upgraded to advanced technologies (such as LTE-Advanced
and Wirelessman-Advanced) that allow more efficient use of spectrum. Currently most mobile-broadband plans are priced on the basis of the data allowance (i e. the data volume in MB included in the plan) and not the speed.
Many operators do not even advertise the speed of the mobile-broadband service, but confine themselves to a generic mention of the technology deployed
(which provides only an indication of the speed, since the definition of‘3. 5g'or‘4g'may vary across operators).
This may also change in the future, as some operators are starting to offer premium plans (at a higher cost) for mobile-broadband services based on high-speed networks.
These plans are labelled often as‘4g 'and may include some indication of the theoretical speeds that can be achieved.
This is the case, for instance, of the operator Tigo, which offers premium‘4g'plans in Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay. 24 In any case,
mobile-broadband speeds depend on several external factors, such as distance from the base station, location (e g. inside a building or outside),
Chart 4. 11 shows that mobile-broadband plans are becoming more and more available, particularly in developing countries,
Globally, the mobile-broadband service available in the most countries is based prepaid handset, which was offered in 153 countries in 2013.
There are far fewer countries (121 in 2013) where all four modalities of mobile-broadband services are offered.
Availability of mobile-broadband services by type of service, by level of development, 2013 and 2012 Note:
A mobile-broadband service is counted as available if it was advertised on the website of the dominant operator
or prices were provided to ITU through the ICT Price Basket Questionnaire. 25 Source: ITU. analysis of the 2013 prices, without comparing them with the 2012 figures.
A comparison of mobile-broadband prices across time would reflect the changes in pricing structures (changes in data allowances,
rather than actual differences in prices for the same mobile-broadband service. The global average price for a computer-based mobile-broadband service with 1 GB monthly data allowance was PPP$ 36.6 (or USD 24.4) for prepaid plans and PPP$ 30.0 (or USD 19.2
which means that operators are in most cases offering the same rates to postpaid and prepaid smartphone customers.
where in one in four countries the cheapest postpaid handset-based Internet plans included free minutes and SMS in 2013.
The existence of different levels of bundling in mobile-broadband plans makes it difficult to compare prices on a like-forlike basis. Mobile-broadband prices in PPP$ are more expensive in developing countries than in developed countries
This suggests that operators in developing countries still have ample room to streamline their mobile-broadband services and offer cheaper prices.
for fixed-telephone and mobile-cellular services. 26 The fact that this is not fully happening for fixed
These differences in mobile-broadband prices between developed and developing countries are even more apparent when looking at the affordability of the service.
Indeed, it is estimated that mobile-broadband penetration will reach 19 per cent in Africa by end 2014,
with mobile-broadband subscribers consuming much less than 500 MB of Internet data per month, supported by the fact that several African operators offer discount plans for occasional use.
However, such low-volume short-validity plans allow only limited use of the Internet, and therefore restrict the benefits that can be obtained from broadband.
For instance, Internet video cannot be consumed on the basis of such limited data allowances, and even Internet radio would need to be limited.
This suggests that, if mobile broadband is to bridge the broadband gap between Africa and the other regions,
mobile-broadband services will have to become more affordable in Africa so that most applications enabled by a broadband connection are within the means of a majority of the population.
Europe stands out as having the most affordable mobile-broadband plans, corresponding to less than 2 per cent of GNI p. c. for all services.
Such high monthly data allowances for prepaid mobile-broadband dongles suggest that these services target high-end customers, rather than the average user.
Average prices for computer-based mobilebroadband plans with a monthly data allowance of 1 GB suggest that mobile broadband could be a cheaper alternative to fixed broadband in many Chapter 4. ICT prices and the role
Percentage of countries Africa Cheaper mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70<5 5
-10 10-20 20-30>30 Difference in prices (USD) Percentage of countries Arab States Cheaper mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference
Cheaper mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70<5 5-10 10-20
20-30>30 Difference in prices (USD) Percentage of countries CIS Cheaper mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference 0 10 20 30
-20 20-30>30 Difference in prices (USD) Percentage of countries Europe Cheaper mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference 0 10 20
mobile broadband Cheaper fixed broadband Almost no difference 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70<5 5-10 10-20 20
There are qualitative differences that make mobile-broadband and fixed-broadband plans not strictly comparable (see Box 3. 4 in ITU
This latter mobile-broadband plan is chosen because it is the best match for fixed-broadband services:
where mobile broadband is more than USD 50 cheaper per month but mobile-broadband prices still correspond to more than 5 per cent of GNI p. c. This reinforces the idea that mobile operators
and policy-makers in Africa share the common challenge of achieving lower mobile-broadband prices in order to unlock the real potential of broadband in the region.
In the Arab States and the CIS, there are almost as many countries where mobile broadband is fixed cheaper than broadband as vice versa.
Of those countries where mobile broadband is significantly cheaper, Indonesia and Thailand are the only ones in
which the 5 per cent affordability target for broadband services is achieved, thanks to affordable mobile-broadband plans.
despite mobile broadband being more than USD 20 cheaper per month than entry-level fixed broadband,
such as the lack of international Internet bandwidth, also constrain mobile-broadband services. There are four countries in The americas that attain the 5 per cent affordability target by virtue of cheaper mobile-broadband prices:
Belize, El salvador, Paraguay and Suriname. In these countries, mobile broadband is an affordable alternative to entry-level fixed-broadband plans.
However, the mobile-broadband market is still in its early stages, with penetration rates below 5 per cent in Belize, El salvador and Paraguay,
Therefore, the extent to which Internet users turn to mobile broadband as an affordable alternative to fixed broadband will only be seen in the coming years.
Mobile-broadband prices, postpaid handset-based 500 MB, 2013 Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, postpaid handset-based (500 MB) GNI p
Mobile-broadband prices, postpaid handset-based 500 MB, 2013 (continued) Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, postpaid handset-based (500 MB) GNI
Mobile-broadband prices, prepaid handset-based 500 MB, 2013 Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, prepaid handset-based (500 MB) GNI p
Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, prepaid handset-based (500 MB) GNI p. c.,USD, 2013*Monthly data allowance (MB) as%of GNI p
Mobile-broadband prices, postpaid computer-based 1 GB, 2013 Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, postpaid computer-based (1 GB) GNI p
Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, postpaid computer-based (1 GB) GNI p. c.,USD, 2013*Monthly data allowance (MB) as%of GNI p
Mobile-broadband prices, prepaid computer-based 1 GB, 2013 Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, prepaid computer-based (1 GB) GNI p
Rank Economy Mobile-broadband, prepaid computer-based (1 GB) GNI p. c.,USD, 2013*Monthly data allowance (MB) as%of GNI p
and the role of competition 140 the region mobile broadband is more than USD 10 cheaper per month.
This reflects the early launch of 3g services in Europe28 and the maturity achieved in the mobilebroadband market, with a mobile-broadband penetration of 57 per cent by end 2013, the highest of all regions.
European countries dominate the global top ten of most affordable mobile-broadband plans with Austria, Finland and Iceland featuring in the top ten for all categories of mobile-broadband services (Tables 4. 5 to 4. 8). 4. 4 Income inequality
and broadband prices The affordability of ICT services depends as much on the price of the service itself as on the economic means of the specific customer.
In this and previous Measuring the Information Society Reports, affordability has been measured in terms of prices as a percentage of GNI per capita,
Mobile broadband The same approach is used to analyse how income inequalities within countries determine the affordability of mobile-broadband services.
because prepaid handset-based is on average the cheapest of the four mobile-broadband services for
and is currently the mobile-broadband service that is available in most countries (Chart 4. 11). 147 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Handset-based mobile-broadband services are affordable
which suggests that the unaffordability of handset-based mobile-broadband services for low-and middle-income households is holding back mobile-broadband adoption in the country.
on average, more than 5 per cent of household income or expenditure, suggesting that mobile-broadband affordability is an issue irrespective of income/expenditure distribution.
This suggests that neither handset-based mobile-broadband prices nor income/expenditure inequalities are a barrier to mobile-broadband adoption in these countries.
A comparison of fixed-broadband and prepaid handset-based mobile-broadband prices shows that mobile broadband may be the only affordable alternative for low-income households in several developing countries.
but which could afford a mobile-broadband plan. This might be the case in countries such as Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Sri lanka and TFYR Macedonia.
and the role of competition 150 Sweden, there is on average more than one mobile-broadband subscription per person.
On the one hand, there are many more mobile-broadband subscriptions than households in countries such as Botswana, Bahrain, Costa rica, Qatar and the United arab emirates, suggesting that handset-based mobilebroadband subscriptions are also individual in these countries.
On the other hand, there are fewer mobile-broadband subscriptions than households in most African countries and in several developing countries in the Asia and the Pacific and Americas regions.
This is consistent with the early stages of development of the mobile-broadband market in these countries
Chart 4. 20 complements the previous analysis by showing the affordability of handset-based mobilebroadband plans assuming that each member of the household has his/her own SIM CARD with a mobile-broadband plan.
in Armenia, the richest 10 per cent of the population could afford to pay for one mobile-broadband plan with 500 MB/month for each person in the household;
for the remaining 80 per cent of the population, such a mobile-broadband plan would be somewhat unaffordable
This tallies with the variations in mobile-broadband penetration in the region, which ranges from more than 100 per cent in Australia to less than 1 per cent in Bangladesh.
Considering the high mobile-cellular penetration in both countries, this suggests they are in a good position to see an increase in mobile-broadband adoption in the coming years.
who may thus need to share a mobile-broadband plan with other members of their household.
In Egypt and Sudan, the cost of a mobile-broadband plan corresponds to more than 10 per cent of equivalized household expenditure for more than half of the population.
and expenditure constitute major barriers for increasing mobile-broadband adoption in many African countries. On the basis of the data presented, it can be concluded that income inequality does
but also by affordability. 4. 5 The impact of competition and regulation on telecommunication prices The impact of ICTS as development enablers depends on access to ICT services
or granting 153 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 a licence to a new entrant in the mobile-cellular market.
This section presents a quantitative analysis of the role of competition and regulation in shaping prices for mobile-cellular (voice and SMS) and fixed-broadband services.
Among all ICT services mobile cellular and fixed broadband have been selected for the analysis because of the availability of comprehensive data series on the prices for these two services,
most of them from the developing world, makes it possible to formulate some genuine global conclusions on the links between competition, regulation and telecommunication prices, based on a worldwide representative sample,
and to check to what extent the quantitative results based on telecommunication data from EU, OECD and specific countries hold true in a global context.
such as the impact of a specific regulatory intervention on telecommunication prices (e g. mandating infrastructure sharing
competition and prices The fall in telecommunication prices in the last decade, and in the period analysed in this chapter (2008-2013),
In recent decades, there has been a global trend towards the liberalization of telecommunication services and the privatization of incumbent operators.
) Regulators have thus become the custodians of competition in telecommunication services at the country level.
and its links to the performance of capital-intensive industries like telecommunications. 43 A country's institutional endowment determines the scope for arbitrary administrative discretion, the legal certainty necessary for investors and, through this,
such as the majority of mobile-cellular and fixed-broadband markets. Regulatory and policy action can also have a direct impact on retail prices,
such as for instance by regulating mobile termination rates, as happens in most countries. 47 Regulation also affects the level of competition in each market,
In addition, regulation is a significant part of the institutional framework that affects telecommunication markets. Thus, it can contribute to creating legal certainty and a level playing field,
Market competition is one of the main drivers of affordable prices in telecommunication services. Chart 4. 21 shows the evolution of average entry-level fixed-broadband prices and competition.
Chart 4. 22 shows the evolution of entrylevel prices and competition in mobile-cellular markets,
Simple averages for 140 economies with available data on mobile-cellular prices and competition for the period 2008-2013.
the regulatory mandate in the different segments of the telecommunication sector; Cluster 3: the regulatory regime in the different areas covered by the regulatory authority,
)+-HHI fixed broadband (competition) Fixed-broadband basket as%of GNI p. c.+-HHI mobile (competition) Mobile-cellular basket as%of GNI p. c. 0123456789
2010 2011 2012 2013 Mobile-cellular basket as a%%of GNI p. c. HHI mobile (competition) Chapter 4. ICT prices and the role of competition 156 the value, the more conducive the regulatory environment to ICT developments.
The combined value of clusters 1 to 3 is used to test the link between regulation and prices of mobile-cellular and fixed-broadband services.
and common institutional frameworks that go beyond telecommunication regulation (e g. the European union acquis). 49 Such background fixed effects may be important for each region,
Secondary trading allowed 9. Unbundled access to the local loop required 8. Co-location/site sharing mandated 7. Infrastructure sharing mandated 6. Infrastructure sharing for mobile operators allowed 5. Qos
mandatory before decisions 4. Percentage of diversified funding 3. Accountability 2. Autonomy in decision making 1. Separate telecom/ICT regulator Regulatory authority 11.
IT 9. Internet content 8. Broadcasting content 7. Broadcasting (radio and TV transmission) 6. Universal service/access 5. Spectrum monitoring
and mobile-cellular prices and competition and regulation metrics, using panel regressions with fixed effects.
Final prices reflect a number of parameters that characterize a telecommunication market and are often the result of the simultaneous effects of technology choices, competition and regulation.
It is established well that prices of telecommunication services vary with levels of economic development. Therefore, gross national income per capita (GNI p. c is included in the model to control for the differences in economic resources that play a role in shaping prices.
The deployment of telecommunication networks requires large investments that operators evaluate depending on the demand for the service and the specific business case in each geographic area.
The degree of competition for the fixedbroadband and mobile-cellular markets is captured through the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI),
For instance, a mobile-cellular market with three players with one-third market share each would be more competitive
and represents the price by country and year for a low-user basket of mobile-cellular calls and SMS in current USD.
see Annex 2 for more details on the methodology for the collection of mobile-cellular prices.
0 2. 9 1718.8 108.5 Mobile-cellular prices 22.1 16.4 13.9 10.4 2. 8 0. 9 75.4 48.3 2. Explanatory
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index for mobile cellular (voice and SMS: with Li being the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions of firm i,
and TL he total number of mobile-cellular subscriptions in the country. It is the sum of the squared market shares of each mobile-cellular service provider calculated in terms of subscriptions.
As in the case of the HHI for fixed broadband, this ranges from to 1, where k is the total number of mobile-cellular service providers in the market.
Data sourced from Informa. 159 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Box 4. 2: Panel regression models for fixed-broadband and mobile-cellular prices (continued) Regulatory variable:
0. 57 0. 53 0. 29 0. 28 0. 13 0. 13 1. 00 1. 00 HHI mobile cellular 0
For instance, a country with a separate telecommunication/ICT regulator that has autonomy in decision-making, enforcement power,
i e. the marginal cost of additional Internet data beyond 1 GB is still nonnegligible in many countries.
Results for mobile cellular The results of the panel regression for mobilecellular prices (voice and SMS) indicate that the model constructed has a medium explanatory power (an R-squared value of 0. 41,
For example, the model predicts that in a market with two mobile-cellular operators sharing the market equally,
Competition in mobile-cellular markets is stronger than in fixed-broadband markets, and differences in competition levels across mobile-cellular markets are on average smaller.
284 (0. 071) Highly significant (1%level) A country with 55%urban population is linked to prices 2. 7%cheaper than a country with 50%urban population HHI mobile
when compared with the reduction in mobile-cellular prices that could be achieved in those developing countries with highly concentrated markets,
Urbanization is significantly related to final prices for mobile-cellular services: a 5 per cent increase in the percentage of the population in urban areas is correlated with prices 2. 7 per cent cheaper.
Chart 4. 24 provides an estimation of the explanatory power of each factor in the variations in mobile-cellular prices observed across countries in 2013.
Since the effects of both factors on mobile-cellular prices are opposite, the impact of these variables may almost balance out
GNI p. c. has a weaker effect on the final price in the case of mobile-cellular services.
56 this finding highlights the importance of competition as a driver for lower prices in mobile-cellular markets.
suggesting that regulation is less of an issue in mobile-cellular markets. This may be because the regulation in place in most countries (e g. regulation of mobile termination rates) already supports the development of competition in the market
and why light-touch regulation and a liberal spectrum assignment approach may already be conducive to competition and lower prices in mobile-cellular services,
Variation in mobile-cellular prices(%)explained by each variable, 2013 Note: Calculated taking as a reference the average of each variable and adding a standard deviation.
In each case, the percentage displayed is the relative difference in mobile-cellular prices that would be obtained keeping all other variables constant.
ITU. impact of competition and regulation on fixedbroadband and mobile-cellular prices: Fixed broadband: Different regulation may account for almost 10 per cent of the differences in prices observed across countries.
ICT Price Basket and sub-baskets, 2013 Rank Economy IPB 2013 Fixed telephone subbasket as a%of GNI per capita, 2013 Mobile-cellular subbasket as a%of GNI
ICT Price Basket and sub-baskets, 2013 (continued) Rank Economy IPB 2013 Fixed telephone subbasket as a%of GNI per capita, 2013 Mobile-cellular subbasket
Based on the econometric model, it can be concluded that factors that are purely attributable to the telecommunication sector, such as operators'strategies on data caps,
Different competition levels largely explain the differences in mobile-cellular prices observed across countries (an estimated 7 per cent),
CD. 4 Voice over internet services, such as Skype or Voipbuster, are excluded from the analysis in this section because they require an Internet connection
and do not have guaranteed a quality of service. They are considered under broadband services. 5 Source:
minutes and SMS (in the case of mobile-cellular plans) that are consumed per month. For more information on the baskets and the pricecollection methodology, see Annex 2. 7 Prepaid handset-based mobile-broadband plans were only available in 122 out of the 140 countries included in the comparison with the other
telecommunication services. Therefore, the average for handset-based mobile-broadband prices provides only an indication
and a floor rate for national mobile calls with the aim of protecting mobile operators'margins.
At present, Sri lanka continues to have some of the cheapest mobile-cellular prices in the world
see Galpaya (2011) and the presentation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri lanka on the impact of the floor rate, available at:
http://www. cck. go. ke/news/downloads/MVNO. pdf. 12 Although four international operators compete in the Kenyan mobile-cellular market,
the dominant mobile operator (Safaricom) holds a market share of almost 70 per cent, and on-net traffic accounts for 87 per cent of the total.
These data suggest there is limited competition among operators. 13 Advanced mobile technologies refer to standards agreed by the ITU Radiocommunication Assembly for next-generation mobile technologies IMT-Advanced such as
see http://www. eircom. net/efibreinfo/map. 16 The most visited websites in Tunisia by December 2011 were predominantly in English.
and the role of competition 170 18 Mauritel reported 7 352 fixed Internet subscriptions by end 2013,97 per cent of which trhough ADSL (source:
Maroc Telecom, http://www. iam. ma/Groupe/Institutionnel/Qui-Sommes-Nous/Filiales participations/Pages/Mauritel. aspx), out of a total of 7 532 fixed
/page=internet conectividad&sub=internet. 20 For instance, the latest Computer literacy Survey in Sri lanka (2009) found that only 20 per cent of the household population (aged 5-69) could use a computer on their own (Department of Census
TEAMS'website (http://www. teams. co. ke) and EASSY's website (http://www. eassy. org.
see http://www. rogers. com/web/content/share-everything? asc refid=shareeverything. For the details of Verizon's MORE Everything plan, see http://www. verizonwireless. com/wcms/consumer/shop/shop-data-plans/more-everything. html. 24 The details of the different‘4g'plans
offered by Tigo can be found on the following websites: http://www. tigo. com. bo/personas/planes-y-promociones/Internet-movil-en-tu-modem, http://www. tigo. com. co/4g
, http://www. tigo. com. gt/personas/internet-movil/internet-movil-tigo-4g and https://www. tigo. com. py/contenido/para-navegar
-con-el-modem. 25 Data for mobile-broadband services have been collected since 2012 through the ITU ICT Price Basket Questionnaire,
which is sent out annually to all ITU Member States/national statistical contacts. 26 In 2013,
the average price in USD for an entry-level fixed-telephone service was 49 per cent cheaper in developing countries than in developed countries,
and for Orange Côte d'ivoire mobilebroadband plans, see http://www. orange. ci/menu-mobile-3g/pass-internet-3g. html. 28 The UMTS auctions took place in 2000 and 2001
where 3g licences were awarded in 2000. In most developing countries on the other hand, 3g licences were granted not until much later.
In large emerging countries such as China and India, for instance, 3g licences were awarded in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
See for instance Xia (2011) and India's Department of Telecommunication press release: http://www. dot. gov. in/as/Auction%20of%20spectrum%20for3g%20&%20bwa/Auction%20results/3g auction -Final results. pdf. 29 For example, outflows of profits generated by a multinational operating
in country A and transferred back to the country of ownership of the multinational would count in country A's GDP,
and consumption expenditure as welfare indicators, see for instance the World bank's website on measuring poverty:
2013a) have set specific entry-level fixed-broadband plans that are offered by the main operators in these countries. 47 Mobile termination rates are regulated in more than 120 countries.
of the regulatory framework through the indicators Separate telecom/ICT regulator, Separate telecom/ICT regulator, Enforcement power,
http://www. omantel. om/Omanweblib/Mediacenter/Press release. aspx. 55 The mean HHI for mobile cellular is calculated as the simple average of the HHI of 140 economies for
whereas dispersion in mobile-cellular prices is of 60 per cent around the mean. 173 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring
While existing data can provide a relatively accurate picture of the spread of telecommunication networks and services
Consequently, not enough data are available about the types of activity that the Internet is used for,
and little is known about the Internet user in terms of age, gender, educational or income level, and so on. In other areas, such as education, health or public services, even fewer data are available to show developments over time
and held by telecommunication operators, the broader ICT sector, which includes not just telecommunication companies but also over-the-top (OTT) service providers such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Netflix, Amazon and many others, captures a wide array of behavioural
data. Together, these data sources hold great promise for ICT monitoring, and this chapter will explore the potential of today's hyper-connected digital world to expand on existing access and infrastructure indicators and move towards indicators on use, quality and equality of use.
and ITU estimates that by the end of 2014 the number of global mobile subscriptions will be approaching 7 billion.
At the same time, almost 3 billion people 40 per cent of the world's population will be using the Internet.
moreover, the strongest growth in telecommunication access and use has been recorded in the developing economies, where ICT penetration levels have increased
Section 5. 3 will examine the range and type of data that telecommunication companies, in particular mobile-cellular operators, produce,
which telecom big data may be used to complement official ICT statistics and assist in the provision of new evidence for a host of policy domains,
and fully exploiting telecom big data for monitoring and for social and economic development, in particular with regard to the different stakeholders involved in the area of big data from the ICT industry. 5. 2 Big data sources,
transactions Supermarket purchases Online purchases Sensors and tracking devices Road and traffic sensors Climate sensors Equipment and infrastructure sensors Mobile phones Satellite/GPS devices
Online activities/social media Online search activities Online page views Blogs and posts and other authored and unauthored online content and social media activities Audio/images/videos Source:
mobile phones and GPS devices), and activities carried out by users on the Internet (including searches
and social media content)( Table 5. 1). Big data is not just about the volume of the data.
One of the earliest definitions, introduced by the Gartner consultancy firm, describes big data characteristics such as velocity and variety,
Most of the data captured by telecommunication companies can be classified as TGD. As is often the case with technological innovation,
Google, for example, is running about a thousand experiments at any given point in time (Varian, 2013a. Telecom network operators make extensive use of such techniques when rolling out new services, among other things for the purpose of pricing.
Telecom operators also use big data techniques to understand and control churn, optimize their management of customer relations
and manage their network quality and performance. These fundamental shifts in data exploitation to generate new socioeconomic value,
which uses a phone's accelerometer to detect potholes while the app user is driving around Boston
This broadly includes data captured directly by telecommunication operators as well as by Internet companies and by content providers such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
In the EU, for example, a number of directives require data producers to obtain users'consent before gathering any of their personal data. 5 One of the best-known examples of leveraging the online population's digital breadcrumbs for development purposes is Google Flu Trends (GFT.
The Internet has also been a rich source of big data beyond the realm of user search terms.
and humanitarian action, has been mining Twitter data from Indonesia (where Twitter usage is high) 9 to understand food price crises.
In fact, it was able to use predictive analytics on the Twitter data to forecast the consumer price index several weeks in advance (Byrne, 2013.
UN Global Pulse is also using Twitter data to understand and compare the relevance of different development topics among countries (Box 5. 2). Box 5. 2:
How Twitter helps understand key post-2015 development concerns As the process of formulating the post-2015 development agenda continues,
Users can select a country to see the number of tweets generated by its Twitter users in regard to the highlighted topic,
Also highly ranked, in 7th position, was phone and Internet access. By clicking on any of the data points in the chart,
Using Twitter to visualize trends in global development topics In fact, the ICT sector is itself using the Internet as a source of big data for monitoring purposes.
Regulators and others are now using the Internet to crowdsource quality of service (Qos) data on broadband quality.
For example, the United states Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released mobile apps that enable consumers to check their broadband quality.
and oceans Phone and Internet access Equality between men and women Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring and for development 180 Mobile data Despite the rapid growth in Internet access,
60 per cent of the world's population is still not using the Internet. Household Internet penetration in developing economies is expected to reach 31 per cent by the end of 2014,
as against almost 80 per cent in developed economies. In addition as Internet penetration rates remain limited,
Internet users are not yet) representative of the population at large. For example, Internet users tend to be younger, relatively well educated,
with men still more likely to be online than women, especially in developing countries11 (ITU, 2013).
Depending on the source of Internet data, results may also be biased more or less. A 2013 study into the characteristics and behaviour of Facebook users, for example, revealed that
while in many ways Facebook users have real-life behaviour and characteristics, in many ways the social network fails as a representation of society.
On the one hand, for example, the American Facebook user's relationship status of married on Facebook is very similar to real life (census) data on the average age
when American people get married. On the other hand, however, the average American Facebook user is much younger than the average citizen. 12 This is just one example
but it highlights the need to take account of particular characteristics and the limitations of producing representative results
when extracting information from online users'behaviour. Given the popularity of mobile-cellular services, non-Internet-related mobilenetwork big data seems to have the widest socioeconomic coverage in the near term,
and the greatest potential to produce relatively representative information globally, particularly in developing countries. By the end of 2014, the number of mobilecellular subscriptions is expected to be nearing 7 billion,
and the number of mobilecellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is expected to reach 90 per cent.
Mobile data are already being utilized for research and policy-making not only in developed but also in developing economies.
There are various examples of how mobile phone records have been used to identify socioeconomic patterns and migration patterns, describe local, national and international societal ties,
Lu, Bengtsson and Holme (2012) used mobile call records to study the population displacements following Haiti's 2010 earthquake,
and especially those available to telecommunication operators, have wide applicability for informing multiple public policy domains.
Less use has thus far been made of telecommunication big data with a view to understanding its potential for producing additional information and statistics on the information society.
it is first important to better understand the type of data that can be made available. 5. 3 Telecommunication data
and their potential for big data analytics Fixed and mobile telecommunication network operators, including Internet service providers (ISPS), are an important source of data and for the purpose of this chapter, all forms of telecommunication big data (either volume,
velocity or variety) are being considered. Most telecommunication data can be considered as TGD, 14 that is, the result of an action undertaken (such as making a call,
sending an SMS, accessing the Internet or recharging a prepaid card). Since the service with the widest coverage and greatest uptake and popularity is the mobilecellular service,
data from mobile operators have the greatest potential to produce representative results and reveal developmental insights on the population,
Telecommunication data The mobile telecommunication data that operators possess can be classified into different types, depending on the nature of the information they produce.
including the measurement of Internet data volumes, call, SMS and MMS volumes, and value-added service (VAS) volumes.
and duration of services used and the technology used, for example, for the mobile network (2g, 3g, etc.).
Since mobile user devices used to access mobile telecommunication services come with an international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) number,
and model and type of technology (2g, 3g, LTE) employed. Mobile network operators can use the IMEI number to identify the specific mobile handset being used by a subscriber,
An overview of telecom network data Source: ITU, adapted from Naef et al. 2014). ) Traffic data Fixed operator Mobile operator ISP Data volume Call volume SMS/MMS volume Erlang DPI data Timestamp of use Contact
network Duration of use Applicable charges Handset type Technology utilized (2g, 3g, DSL/ADSL, etc.
Billing address Passive positioning data (e g. cell ID) IMEI Active positioning data (e g. cell triangulation, GPS) MAC address Customer demographics (e g. age, gender
In addition, telecommunication operators hold various customer details that were captured during the customer registration process. These can include the customer's name, age,
to determine the number of active mobile-cellular and active mobile-broadband subscriptions. On the basis of the detailed service-usage data collected, telecommunication operators can produce a range of detailed indicators relating to service consumption.
For each customer it is possible to determine the minutes of use (Mou), number of originating
data upload volumes, data download volumes, level of use of different VAS, and level of use of different OTT services.
The telecom industry's use of big data Telecommunication companies are actively seeking to intensify their use of big data analytics
Customer profiling Telecom operators capture a range of behavioural data about their customers. Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring and for development 184 Customer profiles include details about customers'mobility patterns, social networks and consumption preferences.
Collectively, these digital breadcrumbs enable operators to profile and segment their customers based on a variety of metrics (Figure 5. 3). Depending on the country or region,
DPI can also be used to categorize interests based on sites visited (as opposed to content accessed.
This often calls for an understanding of the level of influence of each subscriber's social networks, both on-network (i e. within the same operator) as well as off-network (i e.
Customer profiling using telecom big data Source: ITU. CUSTOMER INTERESTS SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS LEVEL OF INFLUENCE OF CUSTOMERS LIKELIHOOD OF CHURN MOBILITY PROFILE 185 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 in competitor networks.
For example, by understanding their customers'relationships to their social networks (and their relative importance within them),
Furthermore, social network insights can be used by an operator to market its services to the off-network contacts that are connected to its customers
In the Republic of korea, for example, SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK TELECOM, uses big data to help its parent company to cut churn
which the detailed mobility profiles available to operators are leveraged. 5. 4 Big data from mobile telecommunications for development and for better monitoring In 2013, the United nations High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015
it is not surprising that mobile telecommunication big data have unique potential as a new data source,
with high mobilecellular penetration levels and the increasing use of mobile phones, even among the poorest and most deprived, making them particularly valuable by comparison with other types of telecommunication data.
Indeed, when referring to the data revolution, the United nations High-level Panel cited the example of mobile technology
In addition to their use for development, telecommunication big data have potential as a source to enable monitoring of the information society,
As the lead agency on global telecommunication and ICT statistics, however, ITU is exploring the potential of big data to complement its existing,
This section presents a first attempt to help identify some of the areas in which mobile telecommunication big data could complement existing ICT indicators to provide a more complete
Mobile phone big data for development Mobile data offer a view of an individual's behaviour in a low-cost, high-resolution, realtime manner.
and assessment Measurement and real-time feedback Prediction and planning Financial services Economic development Health Agriculture Commercial Other High Medium Low Mobile agent placement Algorithmic
fraud detection Social network analysis marketing Agent monitoring Enhanced credit Algorithmic liquidity needs prediction Income and poverty assessment Mapping social divides GDP estimates
opulation tracking Predicting outbreak spread Mobile data to track food assistance delivery Geo-targeted links between Ag suppliers/purchasers Pests,
bad harvest Ag yield/shock predictions Campaign effectiveness Social network delineated market areas Predictive algorithms to anticipate prod. churn Social network targeted marketing Post-disaster refugee reunification
Sentiment analysis of public campaigns Urban planning Mobile disaster relief targeting High frequency surveys Crime detection Social unrest prediction Ex-post Current Future Pilot
) Similar work in Haiti showed how mobile phone data was used to track the spread of cholera after the 2010 earthquake (Bengtsson et al.
axle counters, parking occupancy monitors, CCTV, integrated public transport card readers and GPS data derived not only from phones but also from public transport and private vehicles (Amini, Bouillet, Calabrese, Gasparini
Passive mobile positioning data has also been used for transportation planning and management in Estonia (Ahas and Mark, 2005),
Tracking mobility through mobile phones Port-au-prince (Pap) Number of people displaced after earthquake 189 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Box 5. 6:
geolocated Twitter messages and the census showed very similar results, and although the representativeness of the Twitter geolocated data was lower than the (real-time) mobile-phone and census data,
the degrees of consistency between the population density profiles and mobility patterns detected by means of the three datasets were significant (Lenormand et al, 2014).
They combined this analysis with a study of users'social networks with two users being considered as connected
In 2012, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and GSM Association (GSMA) estimated that close to 2 billion people had a mobile phone but no bank account.
a big data startup that uses the mobile phone records of poor people to assess their creditworthiness
By examining social communication patterns based on telecommunication data, it has become possible to obtain insights into societal structures on a scale that was previously unavailable.
The Cignifi business model is founded on the idea that Mobile phone usage is not random it is highly predictive of an individual consumer's lifestyle and risk.
) However, telecommunication data are also revolutionizing the study of societal structures at the micro level.
Big data to monitor the information society There is a case to be made for analysing data captured by telecommunication operators in the interests of improving the current range of indicators used for monitoring the information society.
and access include indicators on mobile-cellular and mobile-broadband subscriptions, which remain some of the most widely used
and internationally comparable telecommunication indicators produced for tracking the information society. One of the main issues with mobile-cellular and mobile-broadband subscription data is that they do not refer to unique subscriptions
or mobile users. Since one person can have multiple subscriptions, or share a subscription with another person,
the number of unique mobile subscriptions was just over 50 percent, whereas the number of connections per 100 population far exceeded 100 per cent. 26 Survey-based data,
for example on Internet users and mobile-phone users, do not entail the same issues as subscription data.
one of the core indicators reflects the types of online activity pursued by Internet users, and includes response categories such as seeking health information,
or participating in social networks. Survey-based data can also be broken down by individual characteristics, including gender, age, educational level and occupation,
In the case of fixed-telephone and fixed-broadband subscriptions, which are linked to an address through the billing information,
to explore the feasibility of using mobile phones for the deployment of rapid global surveys on well-being. 28 This requires,
To that end, the World bank has experimented with the use of mobile phones to conduct statistically representative monthly household surveys in Latin america and the Caribbean. 29 Source:
Particularly rich possibilities exist where data from mobile-cellular and mobile-broadband subscriptions are concerned, since they are linked to mobility profiles.
Mobile operators are able to provide information not only on the different technologies (3g LTE-Advanced, etc.
therefore, potentially identify Internet and VAS usage patterns between rural and urban areas, and identify the kinds of application or webpage that mobile-Internet users access.
Combined with individual subscriber characteristics, this information could provide new and rich insights into the digital divide
and intensity of use with respect to different Internet activities carried out by individuals. This information is collected currently only by countries that carry out household ICT surveys.
In addition, mobile-operator data could be combined with customer information from popular online services, such as Facebook, Google or other, local (financial, social etc.
This would require telecommunication operators, OTT providers and other Internet content providers to work together and share information.
This technique is, currently, probably the least developed one, also because of the lack of a good ontology and of privacy issues.
In addition, if websites could be classified individually in terms of the information they provide, then Internetuser activities, including their frequency
Big data techniques could help extrapolate the actual number of unique mobile subscribers or users, rather than just subscriptions,
and by taking into account usage patterns or data from popular Internet companies such as Google or Facebook.
Telecom network operators themselves have to contend with interoperability issues arising from the different systems (often from different vendors) they employ.
Naturally, telecom network operators have curated their data based on their needs. To be able to use telecom big data for development and monitoring
and to guarantee its continuity, the creation of a semantic framework would require greater consensus among the many diverse stakeholders involved (telecom operators, network equipment manufacturers, system developers, developmental practitioners and researchers, NSOS, etc.).
Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring and for development 196 Accessing and storing data,
Telecom italia initiated a similar challenge, making data from the territories of Milan and the Autonomous Province of Trento available to researchers for analysis. 31 It has gone,
in addition to releasing some of its own telecom datasets, it partnered with other data providers to curate
and release additional big datasets containing weather, public and private transport, energy, event and social network data.
In both the Orange and Telecom italia cases, researchers had to go through an approval process in order to gain access.
and standard-bearers when it comes to telecom network big data. Some have argued that NSOS are placed well to ensure that best practices are followed in the collection and representation of big data,
Telecom operators, for their part are regulated mostly by sectorspecific regulators who can also have purview
For instance, a recent study showed how Facebook likes could accurately predict a range of behavioural attributes such as, inter alia, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious and political views,
Encryption, virtual private networks (VPNS), firewalls, threat monitoring and auditing are some potential technical solutions that are employed currently,
i e. the use of telecom big data for monitoring and development. This does still require the confluence of appropriate stakeholders.
the subsequent social network analysis could contain errors (overstating or understating tie strength, for example). While it may not be possible to establish data provenance as envisaged by scientists,
Not everyone uses Twitter, Facebook or Google. For example, ITU estimates suggest that 40 per cent of the world's population uses the Internet.
In other words, more than four billion people globally are not yet using the Internet, and 90 per cent of them are from the developing world.
Of the world's three billion Internet users two-thirds are from the developing countries. Even though mobile-cellular penetration is close to 100 per cent,
this does not mean that every person in the world is using a mobile phone. This issue of representativeness is of high relevance
when considering how telecommunication data may be used for monitoring and development. While the potential benefits to be gained from leveraging mobile network operator data for monitoring
and development purposes hinges on the large coverage, close to the actual population size, it is nevertheless not the whole population.
or the levels of gender representation among telecom users, are all valid considerations. While the registration information might provide answers,
the reality is that the demographic information on telecom subscribers, for example, is not always accurate.
Street Bump uses a phone's accelerometer to detect potholes while users of the app are driving around Boston
who often hail from affluent areas with greater smartphone ownership (Harford, 2014). Hence, the big in big data does not automatically mean that issues such as measurement bias and methodology,
Telecom network big data, which mostly fall under this category, may be less susceptible to self-censorship and persona development,
Nor is it inconceivable that users may stop using their mobiles or even turn them off,
For example, the famous Google pagerank algorithm has spawned an entire industry of organizations that claim to enhance website page rankings,
and search-engine optimization (SEO) 38 is established now an part of website development. Changes in behaviour could also partially explain the declining veracity of Google Flu Trends (GFT),
researchers having found influenza-like illness rates as reflected by Google searches to be no longer necessarily correlating with actual influenza virus infections (Ortiz et al.,
2011). ) Recent research has shown that since 2009 (when GFT failed to reflect the nonseasonal influenza outbreak),
The point is that the underlying real-world actions of the population that turned to Google with its health queries,
with more and more people turning to Google with their broader health questions, thereby introducing additional search terms (due to different cultural norms
Dr Nathan Eagle, a pioneer in the use of cellphone records to understand phenomena related to social development and public health,
When researchers working with Sri lankan mobile datasets attempted to use these findings to help them segregate their analyses for different socioeconomic groups,
As Google's Chief Economist, Hal Varian, notes, there are often more police in precincts with high crime,
Telecom network operators themselves use such techniques when rolling out new services or, for that matter, for pricing purposes.
Even when engaging with the broader question of how telecommunication network data could be used for monitoring,
social networks and consumption among men and women, and between different socioeconomic groups, which would not have been possible using only the call records.
which stand to benefit the most from the use of telecommunication big data to complement official statistics,
and telecommunication operators and Internet companies, including search engines and social networks, on the other, is necessary
Operators and Internet companies Business interests will naturally provide operators and Internet companies with the incentive to talk to commercial vendors of big data analytics.
In addition, operators and Internet companies can benefit greatly from engagement with academia and researchers to understand how to leverage big data for different purposes.
Operators and Internet companies need to take advantage of their existing customer relationships to elicit a greater understanding of consumer concerns
operators and Internet companies may hesitate to pool and share their data with those from other sources (including from competitors),
As the main regulatory interface to the telecom sector, NRAS are placed well to co-champion the national discussion on how telecommunication big data may be leveraged for social good.
ITU and UN Global Pulse), the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, ICT industry associations and producers of big data (Google, Facebook, etc.)
As one of the main international bodies working on issues related to the telecommunication sector, ITU could leverage its position to facilitate global discussion on the use of telecom big data for monitoring the information society.
Together, ITU and UN Global Pulse could facilitate the work that needs to be done by NRAS and NSOS, through awareness raising and engagement on privacy frameworks
ITU could help reduce the transaction costs associated with obtaining telecommunication big data, for example by facilitating the standards-setting process.
and leveraging telecommunication big data for social good. Academia, research institutes and development practitioners The research into how telecom data may be used to aid broader development is being done mainly by academia, public and private research institutes and, to a lesser degree,
development practitioners. This makes them important stakeholders in defining the state of the art with respect to leveraging big data for development.
They, more than others, have been the first to engage with telecommunication operators with a view to using their data for development.
Their collective experiences will be valuable as big data for development becomes mainstreamed. 207 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Chapter 5 Annex The mobile-telecommunication data that operators possess can be classified into different types,
both uplink and downlink volumes for Internet traffic can be captured at various levels of disaggregation down to the individual subscriber,
and recipient Internet protocols (IPS), is captured for a variety of purposes, including to manage the network
and understand the demand for particular applications and websites. Service access detail records Whenever a user utilizes a telecommunication service,
each access is recorded not only for infrastructure management but also for billing purposes. Depending on the type of service,
The technology used (2g, 3g, etc..The most common use of such data is for basic billing purposes,
While fixed-telephone network operators have access only to static location data, mobile networks have much richer and dynamic location data.
and generated only when the phone is used and when the network knows which cell a particular handset is connected currently to.
such cellhandoff data provide a time-stamped sequence of cells that the phone was attached to,
but the user has chosen to connect only to 3g networks, the handset will always connect to an antenna that supports 3g,
even if it is further away. Despite these location errors or limitations that can occur in analyses using such passive location data
Device characteristics All mobile user devices used to access mobile telecommunication services come with an international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) number.
GSM-GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS) Both of these utilize the network (mainly via triangulation from multiple base stations) to augment the satellite signal.
telecommunication services. In addition to serving as a unique serial number for the handset, parts of it can reveal information on the handset make and model, type of technology (e g. 2g, 3g, LTE),
and it can be used for the collective categorization of handsets. Furthermore, devices used to access the Internet (mobile handsets, routers,
modems) also have a unique identifier known as a media access control46 (MAC) address. Such identifiers can provide details of the device used to access the network.
Customer details Telecom network operators capture various items of demographic data during the customer registration process.
http://policyreview. info/articles/analysis/big data-big-responsibilities. 6 See https://www. google. org/denguetrends/.
first time online jobs and jobs reposted from the previous month for over 16 000 Internet job boards,
corporate boards and smaller job sites in the United states. More information can be found at http://www. conference-board. org/data/helpwantedonline. cfm. 8 See http://bpp. mit. edu
/.9 According to Peerreach. com, 20 per cent of Indonesia's online population uses Twitter, the second highest ratio in the world.
See http://www. ibtimes. com/twitter-usage-statistics-which-country-has-most-active-twitter-population-1474852.10 See http://www. broadband. gov/qualitytest/about/.
/11 ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database, 17th edition, 2014, available at: http://www. itu. int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid. aspx. 12 See http://blog. stephenwolfram. com/2013/04/data science-of-the-facebook-world/.
/13 Mobile phone records have been used to infer locations of economic activity within, and patterns of migration to, slum areas in Kenya (Wesolowski and Eagle, 2010) and internal migration in Rwanda (Joshua E. Blumenstock, 2012).
Other work has sought to understand international societal ties in Rwanda (Joshua E. Blumenstock, 2011) and the effects of migration on societal ties in Portugal (Phithakkitnukoon, Calabrese, Smoreda and Ratti, 2011.
Exploratory research in Latin america used mobile phone records to forecast the socioeconomic levels of localities, thereby yielding approximate census maps (Frias-Martinez, Virseda-Jerez and Frias-Martinez, 2012.
Mao, Shuai, Ahn and Bollen (2013) investigated the relationship between mobile phone usage and regional economic development in Côte d'ivoire. 14 The term metadata is used also quite extensively to refer to TGD from telecommunication operators. 15 Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a process that utilizes specialized software to scan all of the data
packets traversing a particular IP network. It can be employed by network operators (especially ISPS) to filter for malicious content (e g. spam)
For further information, see http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Deep packet inspection. 16 It should be noted that there is not a harmonized methodology for the allocation of revenues from bundled packages to each specific service Taking into account the increasing trend towards the bundling
of telecommunication services (e g. double-and triple-play offers), revenue figures disaggregated per service are in most cases not comparable across operators and countries.
in order to understand which sites were accessed, in what order and how much time was spent at each. Endnotes 211 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 18 Comments by SK TELECOM CEO Jinwu So to Mobile Asia Expo attendees-http://www. lightreading. com
/document. asp? doc id=703298.19 For more information on Cignifi, see their website at http://www. cignifi. com/.20 The full report can be accessed at http://unstats. un. org/unsd/statcom/doc14/2014
-11-Bigdata-E. pdf. 21 Syndromic surveillance refers to the collection and analysis of health data about a clinical syndrome that has a significant impact on public health,
. 26 See https://gsmaintelligence. com. 27 Jana has integrated its systems with 237 mobile operators worldwide,
see http://www. unglobalpulse. org/projects/global-snapshot-wellbeing-mobile-survey. 29 For more information regarding this project,
see http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/ORGANIZATION/EXTHDNETWORK/0,,contentmdk: 23154296 menupk: 2880846 pagepk:
whereby a website's structure and content are optimized to make the site more visible to the webpage-indexing process of one or more search engines,
thereby ensuring that the website and/or webpage appears higher up in the results of a search query. 39 In a power-law distribution,
For further information, see http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Deep packet inspection. 43 Based on interviews between LIRNEASIA and operators in South and Southeast asia. 44 For example
of the sample regulation on the Indian Department of Telecommunications website (http://dot. gov. in/sites/default/files/Unified%20licence 0. pdf). Chapter 5. The role of big data for ICT monitoring and for development
For more information, see http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sector antenna. 46 A media access control (MAC) address is a unique identifier that is assigned to network interfaces mostly by a hardware manufacturer.
For example, the telecom operator captures the MAC address from a modem or router or handset that accesses its network and maintains the mapping of this network interface to a particular customer.
For more information, see http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/MAC ADDRESS. 47 An international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number is a 15-digit number unique to the particular SIM in a subscriber's handset.
The mobile operator's system retains a mapping between an IMSI number and the particular mobile number assigned to a user.
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Data for all of these indicators are collected by ITU. 2 1. Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Fixed-telephone subscriptions refers to the sum of active analogue fixed-telephone lines,
voice services using Internet Protocol (IP) delivered over fixed (wired)- broadband infrastructure (e g. DSL fibre optic), and voice services provided over coaxial-cable television networks (cable modem.
when the call is routed then over a fixed-line telephone network (and not a mobilecellular network).
fibre-optic and other fixed-broadband platforms that provide fixed telephony using IP. 2. Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions refers to the number of subscriptions
which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) using cellular technology. It includes both the number of postpaid subscriptions
It excludes subscriptions via data cards or USB modems, subscriptions to public mobile data services,
radio paging and telemetry services. 3. International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user International Internet bandwidth refers to the total used capacity of international Internet bandwidth,
in megabits per second (Mbit/s). It is measured as the sum of used capacity of all Internet exchanges offering international bandwidth.
International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user is calculated by converting to bits per second and dividing by the total number of Internet users. 4. Percentage of households with a computer A computer refers to a desktop computer, a laptop (portable computer or a tablet or similar handheld computer.
It does not include equipment with some embedded computing abilities, such as smart TV SETS, and devices with telephony as a main function, such as mobile phones or smartphones.
Household with a computer means that the computer is available for use by all members of the household at any time.
or ITU carries out the necessary research to obtain them, for example from NSO websites. There are certain data limits to this indicator,
the quality of the indicator will improve. 5. Percentage of households with Internet access The Internet is a worldwide public computer network.
Household with Internet access means that the Internet is available for use by all members of the household at any time.
or ITU carries out the necessary research to obtain them, for example from NSO websites. There are certain data limits to this indicator,
Data for all of these indicators are collected by ITU. 4 1. Percentage of individuals using the Internet Individuals using the Internet refers to people who used the Internet from any location and for any purpose, irrespective of the device and network used, in the last three months.
It can be via a computer (i e. desktop computer, laptop computer or tablet or similar handheld 223 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 computer), mobile phone
or ITU carries out the necessary research to obtain them, for example from NSO websites. There are certain data limits to this indicator,
the quality of the indicator will improve. 2. Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions refers to the number of subscriptions for high-speed access to the public Internet (a TCP IP connection).
or greater than, 256 kbit/s. Fixed (wired) broadband includes cable modem, DSL, fibre and other fixed (wired)- broadband technologies (such as Ethernet LAN,
Subscriptions with access to data communications (including the Internet) via mobile-cellular networks are excluded. 3. Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Wireless-broadband subscriptions refers to the sum of satellite broadband, terrestrial fixed
wireless broadband and active mobile-broadband subscriptions to the public Internet. Satellite broadband subscriptions refers to the number of satellite Internet subscriptions with an advertised download speed of at least 256 kbit/s. It refers to the retail subscription technology and not the backbone technology.
Terrestrial fixed wireless broadband subscriptions refers to the number of terrestrial fixed Wireless internet subscriptions with an advertised download speed of at least 256 kbit/s. This includes fixed Wimax and fixed wireless subscriptions
but excludes occasional users at hotspots and Wi-fi hotspot subscribers. It also excludes mobilebroadband subscriptions where users can access a service throughout the country wherever coverage is available.
Active mobile-broadband subscriptions refers to the sum of standard mobilebroadband subscriptions and dedicated mobile-broadband data subscriptions to the public Internet.
Standard mobile-broadband subscriptions refers to active mobile-cellular subscriptions with advertised data speeds of 256 kbit/s
or greater that allow access to the greater Internet via HTTP and which have been used to set up an Internet data connection using Internet Protocol (IP) in the past three months.
Standard SMS and MMS messaging do not count as an active Internet data connection, even if the messages are delivered via IP.
Dedicated mobile-broadband data subscriptions refers to subscriptions to dedicated data services (over a mobile network) that allow access to the greater Internet
and which are purchased separately from voice services, either as a standalone service (e g. using a data card such as a USB modem/dongle) or as an add-on data package to voice services
Internet use data of country A was estimated by using Internet use data of country B from the same region with similar level of GNI per capita and similar level of fixed Internet and wireless-broadband subscriptions.
while other indicators can have values exceeding 100, such as mobilecellular and wireless-broadband penetration or international Internet bandwidth (expressed as bit/s per user).
International Internet bandwidth per Internet user, which in 2013 ranges from 136 (bits/s/user) to almost 6 445 759.
The reference value for mobile-cellular subscriptions was reviewed and lowered to 120. This value (120) was derived by examining the distribution of countries based on their mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants value in 2013.
For countries where postpaid is the predominant mode of subscriptions, 120 is the maximum value achieved,
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, which in 2013 range from zero to 124. The same methodology was used to compute the reference value
In line with fixed-telephone subscriptions, the ideal value was defined at 60 per 100 inhabitants. After normalizing the data,
Weights (Indicators) Weights (Sub-indices) ICT access 0. 40 Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 0. 20 Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100
inhabitants 0. 20 International Internet bandwidth per Internet user 0. 20 Percentage of households with a computer 0. 20 Percentage of households with Internet access 0. 20 ICT
use 0. 40 Percentage of individuals using the Internet 0. 33 Fixed (wired)- broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 0. 33 Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100
enrolment ratio 0. 33 ICT access is measured by fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants mobilecellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, international Internet bandwidth per Internet user, percentage of households with a computer and percentage of households with Internet access.
ICT use is measured by percentage of individuals using the Internet, fixed (wired)- broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and wirelessbroadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
ICT skills are approximated by adult literacy rate, secondary gross enrolment ratio and tertiary gross enrolment ratio.
The values of the sub-indices were calculated first by normalizing the indicators included in each sub-index
The ideal value of 787'260 bit/s per Internet user is equivalent to 5. 90 if transformed to a log scale.
DENMARK Indicators 2013 ICT access Ideal value*a Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 60 37.4 b Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 120
127.5 c International Internet bandwidth per Internet user**787'260 261'221 d Percentage of households with a computer 100 93.1 e Percentage of households with Internet access
100 92.7 ICT use f Percentage of individuals using the Internet 100 94.6 g Fixed (wired)- broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 60 40.2 h Wireless
Formula Weight ICT access z1 Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants a/60 0. 20 0. 62
z2 Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants b/120 0. 20 1. 00 z3 International Internet bandwidth per Internet user log (c)/ 5
/100 0. 20 0. 93 ICT use z6 Percentage of individuals using the Internet f/100 0. 33 0. 95 z7 Fixed (wired)- broadband
Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants g/60 0. 33 0. 67 z8 Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants h/100 0. 33
. 88 y1 Fixed-telephone subsriptions per 100 inhabitants z1*.*20 0. 12 y2 Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants z2*.
*20 0. 20 y3 International Internet bandwidth per Internet user z3*.*20 0. 18 y4 Percentage of households with a computer z4*.
*20 0. 19 y5 Percentage of households with Internet access z5*.*20 0. 19 ICT use sub-index (M) y6+y7+y8 0. 40 0. 87 y6 Percentage of individuals using the Internet z6*.
*33 0. 32 y7 Fixed (wired)- broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants z7*.*33 0. 22 y8 Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants z8*.
*33 0. 33 ICT skills sub-index (N) y9+y10+y11 0. 20 0. 93 y9 Adult literary rate z9*.
The ICT Development Index'report (ITU, 2009). 2 More information about the indicators is available in the ITU‘Handbook for the collection of administrative data on telecommunications/ICT'2011,
however, the data may not necessarily reflect these revisions. 4 More information about the indicators is available in the ITU Handbook for the collection of administrative data on telecommunications/ICT'2011,
Through the questionnaire, contacts were requested to provide 2013 data for fixed-telephone, mobile-cellular, fixed-broadband and mobile-broadband prices;
prices were collected directly from operators'websites and/or through direct correspondence. Prices were collected from the operator with the largest market share,
preference was given to prices offered by the (former) incumbent telecommunication operator. In some cases, especially when prices were advertised not clearly
the fixed-telephone, mobile-cellular and fixed-broadband sub-baskets. The IPB is calculated the value from the sum of the price of each sub-basket (in USD) as a percentage of a country's monthly GNI per capita,
The collection of price data from ITU Member States and the methodology applied for the IPB was agreed upon by the ITU Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) 1 and endorsed by the eighth World
Telecommunication/ICT Indicators meeting held in November 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. The fixed-telephone sub-basket The fixed-telephone sub-basket refers to the monthly price charged for subscribing to the public switched telephone network (PSTN
plus the cost of 30 three-minute local calls to the same (fixed) network (15 peak and 15 offpeak calls.
Annex 2. ICT price data methodology 232 The fixed-telephone sub-basket does not take into consideration the onetime connection charge.
then these are taken into consideration and deducted from the total cost of the fixed-telephone sub-basket.
The cost of a three-minute local call refers to the cost of a three-minute call within the same exchange area (local call) using the subscriber's equipment (i e. not from a public telephone).
because fixed-telephone access remains an important access technology in its own right in a large number of countries.
Since the IPB does not include dialup (but only broadband) Internet prices and since dial-up Internet access requires users to subscribe to a fixed-telephone line,
The mobile-cellular sub-basket The mobile-cellular sub-basket refers to the price of a standard basket of mobile monthly usage for 30 outgoing calls per month (on-net, off-net
The mobile-cellular sub-basket is based on prepaid prices, although postpaid prices are used for countries where prepaid subscriptions make up less than 2 per cent of all mobile-cellular subscriptions.
The mobile-cellular sub-basket is largely based on, but does not entirely follow, the 2009 methodology of the OECD low-user basket,
which is the entry-level basket with the smallest number of calls included (OECD, 2010b).
which is based on the prices of the two largest mobile operators, the ITU mobile sub-basket uses only the largest mobile operator's prices.
Additionally, the ITU mobile-cellular sub-basket does not take into account calls to voicemail (which in the OECD basket represent 4 per cent of all calls),
Rules applied in collecting fixed-telephone prices 1. The prices of the operator with the largest market share (measured by the number of fixed-telephone subscriptions) should be used. 2. Prices should be collected in national currency,
The selected city should be mentioned in a note in the monthly subscription indicator. 4. From all fixed-telephone plans meeting the above-mentioned criteria
OECD mobile-cellular low-user call distribution (2009 methodology) Note: N/A: Not applicable. Source:
In this case, the monthly subscription fee, plus any free minutes, will be taken into consideration for the calculation of the mobile-cellular sub-basket. 4
then this is taken into consideration in the formula for the mobile-cellular sub-basket, based on 30 calls. 11.
the mobile-cellular sub-basket formula will be calculated on the basis of 30 calls or 50.9 minutes.
Rules applied in collecting fixed-broadband Internet prices 1. The prices of the operator with the largest market share (measured by the number of subscriptions) should be used. 2. Prices should be collected in national currency,
the cheapest one on the basis of a 1 GB monthly usage and an advertised download speed of at least 256 kbit/s should be selected.
(i e. in terms of the price per Mbit/s)( see Annex Box 2. 3). 3. Mobile-broadband prices In 2012,
on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) 9 in 2012, and revised in 2013 by EGTI in view of the lessons learned from the first data collection exercise.
The revised methodology was endorsed by the eleventh World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium held in December 2013 in Mexico city, Mexico.
The plans selected represent the least expensive offers that include the minimum amount of data for each respective mobile-broadband plan.
UMTS, HSDPA+/HSDPA, CDMA2000, and IEEE 802. 16e. Prices applying to Wifi or hotspots should be excluded. 2. Prices should be collected in national currency,
and b) computer-based mobile-broadband subscriptions. 5. Mobile-broadband prices should be collected from the operator with the largest market share in the country, measured by the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions.
mobile-broadband prices should be collected from the mobile-cellular operator with the largest market share (measured by the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions) in the country. 6. Different operators can be chosen, for a different mobile-broadband service, if:
the plan satisfying the indicated data volume requirement should be used. 8. Where operators propose different commitment periods for postpaid mobile-broadband plans,
If the plan chosen includes other services besides mobile-broadband access, these should be specified in a note. 15.
Special prices that apply to a certain type of phone (iphone/Blackberry, ipad) should be excluded.
ITU. 239 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 1 The Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) was created in May 2009 with the mandate to revise the list of ITU supply-side indicators
EGTI reports to the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS. 2 In some cases, it is not clear
in such cases, the advertised price is used. 8 Data for fixed-telephone, mobile-cellular and fixed-broadband have been collected since 2008 through the ITU ICT Price Basket Questionnaire,
11 These rules were presented to the Expert Group on Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (EGTI) in September 2012.
The EGTI proposals to measure mobile-broadband prices were endorsed by the eleventh World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium held in December 2013 in Mexico city, Mexico.
-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants International Internet bandwidth Bit/s per Internet user Percentage of households with computer Percentage of households
3'876 3'858 17.6 20.0 7. 2 7. 7 Access indicators 243 Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 Fixed-telephone
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants International Internet bandwidth Bit/s per Internet user Percentage of households with computer Percentage of households with Internet access
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. Annex 3. Statistical tables of indicators used to compute de IDI 244 Percentage of individuals using the Internet Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
Economy 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 1 Afghanistan 5. 5 5. 9 0. 0 0. 0 0. 4 1
Society Report 2014 Percentage of individuals using the Internet Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Economy 2012 2013 2012
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. Annex 3. Statistical tables of indicators used to compute de IDI 246 Skills indicators Gross enrolment ratio Adult Seconday Tertiary literacy rate Economy 2012 2013
ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database. Annex 3. Statistical tables of indicators used to compute de IDI 248 Access indicators Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2012: 1) Incl. 524 958 WLL
subscriptions. 2) Incl. payphone, excl. VOIP. 3) Incl. ISDN channels measured in ISDNB channels equivalents. 4) Incl.
Voip. 5) Bhutan Telecom is the only service provider as of now in Bhutan. 6) By December 7) Fixed
Telecom italia access lines, ULL, Virtual ULL, Naked DSL, Wholesale line Rental, Fiber, Public Telephony. 17) The number of fixed public payphones is as of March
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2013 1) Incl. 420 000 WLL subscriptions. 2) Incl. payphone, excl.
Voip. 5) Estimate. 6) Bhutan Telecom is the only service provider as of now in Bhutan. 7) By December 2013.8) Excl. voice-over-IP (Voip) subscriptions,
Telecom italia access lines, ULL, Virtual ULL, Naked DSL, Wholesale line Rental, Fiber, Public Telephony. 12) The number of fixed public payphones is as of March
Voip. 3) Active subscriptions. 4) Bhutan Telecom and Tashi Cell are the only two service providers in Bhutan. 5) Activity criteria:
2 082 589.8) Excl. 2 720 698 prepaid cards that are used to provide Travel SIM/World Mobile service. 9) Excl. data-only SIM CARDS
undividable. 15) Decrease was due to registration of SIMS. 16) Figure obtained from all five mobile (GSM
Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2013: 1) Preliminary. 2) Active subscriptions. 3) Bhutan Telecom and Tashi Cell are the two service providers in Bhutan
voice or data communication in the last month. 5) By December 2013.6) Incl. all mobile cellular subscriptions that offer voice communications,
13) Figure obtained from all four mobile (GSM & CDMA) operators currently providing service in the country. 14) Break in comparability.
International Internet bandwidth Bit/s per Internet user, 2012: 1) Refers to a survey conducted with the following companies:
International Internet bandwidth Bit/s per Internet user, 2013: 1) Purchased capacity. 2) As at December 2013.3) Total installed capacity.
Percentage of households with Internet access, 2012: 1) Estimated based on 2011 proportion of households with internet and using estimated annual growth rate of 2. 8%.2) Preliminary. 3) Data
and/or have access to internet. Sample weights have been applied. Not restricted to access at home. 5) Incl. desktop computer, laptop/notebook/netbook/tablet,
but excluded palm top/Personal digital assistant (PDA) and other devices for Internet connection (e g. smartphone, game console and e-book reader).
Refers to access at home, on cell phone or other mobile device and via mobile modem. 10) Census data. 11) Excl. households
http://www. census. gov/hhes/computer/publications/2012. htm. Percentage of households with Internet access, 2013: 1) Labour force Survey 2013.2) Corresponds to all type of internet connections
and/or have access to internet. Sample weights have been applied. Not restricted to access at home. 5) Included desktop computer, laptop/notebook/netbook/tablet,
but excluded palm top/Personal digital assistant (PDA) and other devices for Internet connection (e g. smartphone, game console and e-book reader).
Use indicators Percentage of individuals using the Internet, 2012: 1) 15 years and older. Last 12 months. 2) Users in the last 3 months. 3) Estimated based on 2011 Residential consumer survey result and TRA analysis of the growth. 4) Individuals aged 16
Population 5+.10) 12+years. 11) Population 5+.Direct response from individuals 15 years and above. 12) The methodology depends basically on the number of internet users using hard indicators instead of data
The estimate is based on weighting households who use internet by the household size over the total estimated population.
27) Reference period for computer and Internet usage is 3 months only. 28) U s. Census bureau, Table 2:
http://www. census. gov/hhes/computer/publications/2012. htm. Percentage of individuals using the Internet,
The estimate is based on weighting households who use internet by the household size over the total estimated population.
+using internet in the last 3 months. 19) Individuals aged 15 to 72 years. 20) Estimated.
Fixed (wired)- broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2012: 1) Internet Activity Survey, June 2) Incl. fixed wireless broadband. 3) Fixed broadband in Bhutan is provided via ADSL/DSL networks only. 4) As of 2012 it includes also FTTH. 5) Expert assessment,
or equal to, 512 Kbps. 9) By December 2012.10) Only ETL and LTC. 11) Preliminary. 12) Full VDSL. 13) Speeds equal to or greater than 144 kbit
16) Q3. 17) Excl. 3203 Wimax subscriptions. 18) Excl. corporate connections. 19) Data reflect subscriptions with associated transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps
1 november 2013.2) Preliminary. 3) Internet Activity Survey, June 2013.4) Fixed broadband provided through ADSL/DSL and Fiber links. 5) Estimate,
or equal to, 512 Kbps. 11 december 2013. These are the subscriptions with the minimum download speed of 512 kbps. This is as per the revised definition of Broadband in India with effect from 18th july 2013.12) December 13) ADSL and Leased lines. 14) Based on 2013q3 data
. 15) Per June 2013.16) Operators'data. 17) Incl. subscriptions at downstream speeds equal to, or greater than, 144 kbit/s (the number of subscriptions that are included in the 144-256 range is insignificant).
Data reflect subscriptions with associated transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction, consistent with the reporting threshold the FCC adopted in 2000.
Wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2012: 1) Only fixed Wimax subscriptions. 2) Internet Activity Survey, June 3) Break in comparability:
including all categories of mobile broadband. 4) Total number of EDGE/GPRS subscribers: 97 520.5) Break in comparability:
) High use of mobile phones to access the internet. 8) Incl. Home Box and RLANS. 9) Break in comparability,
from this year incl. prepaid mobile-broadband subscriptions. 10) Incl. subscriptions to Wifi hotspots. 11) Methodology changed from ability to have mobile broadband to actual mobile broadband usage. 12) Satellite,
BWA and active mobile subscriptions. 13) Estimate based on partial SIT data and ITU estimates. 14) Speeds greater than,
or equal to, 512 Kbps. 15) Rightel (Tamin Telecom) has been given license to operate 3g services and started services from February 2011 (http://www. rightel. ir/).
/Data refer to the sum of fixed wireless broadband and active mobilebroadband subscriptions. 16) Incl. mobile broadband
so that many people used the free service. 21) Preliminary. 22) Mobile broadband only. Fixed wireless and satellite exist
but data are not available. 23) Operators data/ictqatar estimate. 24) Refers to active mobile-broadband subscriptions only. 25.dec 26) Incl. 4125165 active mobile-broadband subscriptions plus 3203
2013: 1) Only fixed Wimax subscriptions. 2) Preliminary. 3) Internet Activity Survey, June 2013.4) Total number of EDGE/GPRS subscribers is 112
Incl. subscriptions to Wifi hotspots. 12) Satellite, BWA and active mobile subscriptions. 13) Incl. VSAT. 14) Speeds greater than, or equal to
512 Kbps. 15) subscriptions with minimum download speed of 512 kbps. This is as per the revised definition of Broadband in India with effect from 18th july 2013.16) Data refer to the sum of fixed wireless
broadband and active mobile-broadband subscriptions. 17) 2013 data is an estimate as of June 30,
2013.18) Incl. mobile broadband and Wimax. 19) Estimate based on 1. Standard mobile subscriptions using data services 2. Dedicated data subscriptions 3. Add on data
packages. 20) Based on 2013q3 data. 21) Per June 2013.22) Mobile broadband only. Fixed wireless and satellite exist
We anticipate that Mobile broadband and terrestrial fixed broadband services would be in place by the end of 2014.27) OFCOM estimate. 28) Includes:
active mobile-broadband subscriptions plus 3175 Wimax. International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Development Bureau Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland
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