The ITU has revealed its latest set of statistics. They show that despite the global financial crisis the ICT industry not only continues to thrive but is also a prime driver of economic growth in other sectors that have been more badly affected by the financial meltdown, as Martyn Warwick reports from ITU World Telecom at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.
It's not all good news though. The figures confirm that the digital divide, whilst not as wide as it was the last time ITU Telecom World was held (in Hong Kong back in 2006), remains a deep fissure cutting across the global economy.
The new publication, "The World in 2009" confirms that mobile technology is the catalyst behind rapid ICT growth and predicts that there will be 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions by the end of this year. Mobile broadband subscriptions are expected to top 600 million by the same date. The sector overtook fixed broadband subscriptions in 2008.
Mobile technologies are making a major contribution to the spread of ICT technologies, services and applications in developing countries, with a number of nations launching and commercially offering IMT2000/3G networks and services.
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