DUSHANBE, May 6, 2014, Asia-Plus – New figures released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on May 5 indicate that by end 2014, the number of Internet users globally will have reached almost 3 billion, two-thirds of them coming from the developing world.  

This corresponds to an Internet-user penetration of 40 per cent globally, 78 per cent in developed countries and 32 per cent in developing countries. More than 90 per cent of the people who are not yet using the Internet are from the developing world.

The analysis shows that household Internet access is approaching saturation levels in developed countries.  More than one out of two households in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be connected to the Internet.

Meanwhile, results show that fixed-telephone penetration has been declining for the past five years.  The report says that by end 2014, there will be about 100 million fewer fixed-telephone subscriptions than in 2009.

Mobile-cellular subscriptions are expected to reach almost 7 billion by end 2014, and 3.6 billion of these will be in the Asia-Pacific region.

Penetration rates in the CIS, Arab States, the Americas and Europe have reached levels above 100 per cent and are expected to grow at less than two per cent in 2014.  The region with the highest mobile-cellular penetration rate is the CIS.

By end 2014, fixed-broadband penetration will have reached almost 10 per cent globally, the report says.  Forty-four per cent of all fixed-broadband subscriptions are in Asia and the Pacific, and 25 per cent are in Europe. In contrast, Africa accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of the world’s fixed-broadband subscriptions, and despite double-digit growth over the last four years, penetration in Africa remains very low.

Mobile-broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally.  Mobile-broadband penetration will reach 32 per cent globally by end 2014.  Mobile-broadband penetration levels are highest in Europe (64%) and the Americas (59%), followed by CIS (49%), the Arab States (25%), Asia-Pacific (23%) and Africa (19%).

According to the statistical data from Communications Service under the Government of Tajikistan, 10.7 million mobile-cellular subscriptions have been registered in Tajikistan with a population of 8 million by end 2013.

The number of fixed-line telephone subscribers in Tajikistan is more than 390,000 people and the number of Internet users, including mobile Internet users, is 3.8 million people.