Economy

Posted on September 22, 2014 11:47:00 PM

Internet penetration rate in the PHL still low — UN report

THE PHILIPPINES ranked 57th among 132 countries surveyed for household broadband penetration in 2013, a report by the United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission published yesterday showed, noting that only around 23 of 100 Filipino homes have access to broadband Internet.

In the 2014 State of Broadband report by the UN Broadband Commission released yesterday in New York at the 10th meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, it showed that South Korea continued to have the world’s highest home broadband penetration at over 98%, with Qatar being the second with 96.4%.

In the area of fixed broadband infrastructure, the Philippines ranked 110th among 190 countries surveyed last year, with penetration rate of 2.6%.

The country had a higher ranking at 79th place in mobile broadband in 2013, with 20.3% penetration rate. This was topped by Singapore, accounting to 135.1% penetration rate and Finland with 123.5%.

In terms of overall Internet user penetration, the Philippines ranked 106th of 191 countries surveyed in 2013 with a penetration rate of 37%.

The report revealed that almost half of the world’s population are already online, with the number of Internet users rising to 2.9 billion by yearend from 2.3 billion in 2013.

“Over 50% of the global population will have Internet access within three years’ time, with mobile broadband over smartphones and tablets now the fastest growing technology in human history,” the UN report noted.

It said that global Internet access will climb steeply to “a predicted 7.6 billion within the next five years.”

Monaco has surpassed last year’s champion, Switzerland, as the world leader in fixed broadband penetration, at over 44% of the population, the UN report also showed.

“There are now four economies, namely Monaco, Switzerland, Denmark and Netherlands where penetration exceeds 40% this year, up from just one (Switzerland) in 2013,” according to UN Broadband Commission.

In total, there are 77 countries where over 50% of the population is online in 2013, up from 70 in 2012, according to the report.

It also showed that the top ten countries for Internet use are all located in Europe, with Iceland ranked 1st in the world, with 96.5% of people online.

“The lowest levels of Internet access are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, with Internet available to less than 2% of the population in Ethiopia (1.9%), Niger (1.7%), Sierra Leone (1.7%), Guinea (1.6%), Somalia (1.5%), Burundi (1.3%), Eritrea (0.9%) and South Sudan (no data available).”

The list of the ten least-connected nations also includes Myanmar (1.2%) and Timor Leste (1.1%), the UN study showed.

“As we look towards the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative that we not forget those who are being left behind,” said International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré, who also serves as co-vice chair of the Commission with UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova, said in the study.

UNESCO’s Ms. Bokova emphasized the important of Internet access to development.

“Broadband uptake is accelerating, but it is unacceptable that 90% of people in the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries remain totally unconnected. With broadband Internet now universally recognized as a vital tool for social and economic development, we need to make connectively a key development priority, particularly in the world’s poorest nations,” Ms. Bokova said.

The State of Broadband 2014 is the third edition of the commission’s annual report. It is the only report that features country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability for over 160 economies worldwide. — C.J.V. Dela Paz

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