Digital Natives And The Price Point

Michael Hedges October 14, 2013 Follow on Twitter

To repeat how profoundly the media world has changed with the development of information and communication technologies is akin to remarking how the sun rises and sets. Storms may brew but technology steadily, perhaps not slowly, moves forward. More people have more access to information faster and smarter than could have possibly been imagined at the first of the century. It is an unparalleled tool, rightly described as a web, pervasive in the lives of billions and undeniably fragile.

A report card on global information and communication technology (ICT) development, prepared by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), shows just how quickly – and where – digital transition has occurred. In its “Measuring the Information Society” report, wealthy nations in Asia, Northern Europe and North America remain the most highly developed. The top 20 has not changed year to year.

The ITU report forecasts 2.7 billion people of this fair planet connected by the end of this year, meaning 4.4 billion not. “At the beginning of 2013 almost 80 percent of households globally had a TV, compared with 41 per cent of households with a computer and 37 per cent with Internet access.” The difference between South Korea, topping the ICT Development Index (IDI) at 8.57, and Niger, on the bottom at 0.99, is “huge,” said the report.

The ITU paints a picture of digital natives, considered by some the real engine of change, shunning traditional media for the web, mobile devices and games, not to forget the ad world’s buzz “second screen.” Connected 15 to 24 year olds with at least five years web attachment are 5.2% of the world’s population, 363 million, and nearly one-third of the world’s youth population. “The sum of all digital natives represents more than the entire population of Brazil and Mexico combined,” said the report.

As with the ITU’s IDI, larger, wealthier countries have more digital natives as a percentage of population, though Iceland, New Zealand and Lithuania – not large – ranked in the top five along with South Korea and Malaysia. And, too, poor nations in conflict zones have the fewest; East Timor, Burma (Myanmar), Sierra Leone, Niger and DR Congo at the bottom. “Countries with a high proportion of young people who are already online are positioned to define and lead the digital age of tomorrow,” noted report co-author and Georgia Tech professor Michael Best.

Malaysia ranks 4th in the world with 13.4% digital natives among a population of 29.2 million but slightly beneath the top third of the ICT development list at 59th. Investment has been considerable in connecting schools to the web. At the end of 2012 Malaysia had 13.4 million Facebook users, 46.5% of the population, according to Internet World Stats. ITU Report analysts also note a “youth bulge” effect pushing up the percentage of digital natives in low and low-middle income countries. This, they say, explains the high percentage of digital natives in Zimbabwe (6.1%) and near the bottom of the ICT ranking and Kyrgyzstan (6.6%), which did not rank in the IDI.

“Young people are the most enthusiastic adopters and users of ICTs,” said ITU Telecom Development Bureau director Brahima Sanou. “They are the ones who will shape the direction of our industry in the coming decades, and their voice needs to be heard.”

Mobile broadband is driving the ICT rocket ship, says the ITU report. 3G connections are increasing at an annual rate of about 40% (compounded annual growth rate – GCAR). Just under half the world has access to mobile broadband and about 30% are subscribed. Mobile broadband penetration in the developed world, as defined by ITU, is 74.8% and 19.8% in the developing world, roughly the same percentage as developed countries five years ago.

Mobile broadband access is now more affordable for consumers than fixed broadband. Mobile data plans, essentially internet access, are less expensive than voice access in developing countries, the opposite in developing countries. Postpaid mobile data plans are less expensive than prepaid plans in developing countries; again, just the opposite in developed countries. The best price based on percentage of gross national income (GNI) can be found in Austria.

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