The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says ‘the number of mobile broadband subscriptions would exceed one billion this year after reaching 600 million in 2009’ and that ‘the ranks of cell phone subscribers will swell to five billion people this year thanks to the growth of smartphones in developed nations and mobile services in poor nations.’
According to ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure, “Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services. I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet.” In 2009, mobile subscribers the world over had reached 4.6 billion people.
PHYSORG.COM reports that the increase in use of mobile phones in the developing world is seen in the areas of mobile banking where people can conduct financial transactions via mobile subscriptions even if they do not own bank accounts, as well as in health services because of the growing trend in sending message reminders to subscribers regarding medical appointment schedules or instructions on use of vaccines and medication such as anti-retrovirals.
The world is, indeed, getting wired. Access to information and telecommunications may yet prove to be the level playing field that blurs the line dividing the rich and the poor. This great leveler makes the world flat.
