Asia-Pacific ICT Sector Keeps Climbing

Material with global numbers from the ITU is always something worthwhile reporting about.

"The ITU Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators 2004 report, issued at ITU TELECOM ASIA 2004 in Busan (Republic of Korea), found that growth rates for fixed lines, mobile subscribers and Internet users over the last few years have soared in a number of countries across the region. Mobile subscriber numbers rocketed by 31% per year between 2000-2003 to reach 560 million — overtaking North America as the world’s largest market. Numbers of fixed lines in the region also grew by 14% in the same period, surpassing the single digit growth rates seen in most other regions."

The report outlines that countries like Korea and Japan are leading countries in the ICT race - in fact, Japan is the country with the highest penetration of mobile Internet users. The number of Internet users in Asia Pacific grew by 38% annually from 2000 to 2003, but the report also states that there are huge disparities amongst the different countries - making Asia the most and the least connect region in the world.

There are also interesting broadband penetration numbers: Korea, with a broadband penetration of 23.3%, and Hong Kong, China — with a broadband penetration of 18% — top the global broadband league. They are closely followed by Taiwan, China (13.4%), and Japan (11.7%). Singapore is in 11th position at 10.1%.