Developing Countries Surge in Mobile Broadband, UN Finds

Why are smartphone makers paying so much attention to developing countries? That is where the growth, and the potential for more of it, is concentrated.

A new report from the United Nations Broadband Commission demonstrates this in considerable detail. By the end of this year, the report says, the number of mobile broadband connections worldwide will rise to 2.1 billion, nearly three times the total of fixed-line subscriptions. That may be just a start. Strikingly, some developing countries like Oman and Kazakhstan ranked ahead of wealthy nations like Switzerland and Germany in mobile broadband penetration. The mobile Internet has enabled some developing countries to leapfrog ahead, letting telecommunications companies and consumers skip over fixed-line broadband. The gains are uneven, though. In much of Africa and parts of Latin America, mobile broadband penetration is still in the single digits per 100 inhabitants. The goals of the UN Broadband Commission include closing the digital divide.