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 News From You
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Week ending May 30, 2015
New figures released by ITU indicate that over the past 15 years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have grown in an unprecedented way, providing huge opportunities for social and economic development.
The new figures track ICT progress and show gaps in connectivity since the year 2000, when world leaders established the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Today, there are more than 7 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, up from 738 million in 2000. Globally, 3.2 billion people are using the Internet, of which two billion live in developing countries.
“These new figures not only show the rapid technological progress made to date, but also help us identify those being left behind in the fast-evolving digital economy, as well as the areas where ICT investment is needed most,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, at the press conference to launch the report today at the 2015 WSIS Forum in Geneva.
“ICTs will play an even more significant role in the post-2015 era and in achieving future Sustainable Development Goals as the world moves faster and faster towards a digital society,” said Mr Brahima Sanou, the Director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Our mission is to connect everyone and to create a truly inclusive information society, for which we need comparable and high-quality data and statistics to measure progress.”
Internet user penetration increased seven-fold since 2000
Between 2000 and 2015, Internet penetration has increased almost seven-fold from 6.5 to 43 per cent of the global population.
The proportion of households with Internet access at home advanced from 18 per cent in 2005 to 46 per cent in 2015.
ITU figures also indicate that four billion people in the developing world remain offline. Off the nearly one billion people living in the Least Developing Countries (LDCs), 851 million do not use the Internet.
3G mobile-broadband coverage rapidly extending
Mobile broadband is the most dynamic market segment, with mobile-broadband penetration globally reaching 47 per cent in 2015, a value that increased 12-fold since 2007. In 2015, 69 per cent of the global population will be covered by 3G mobile broadband, up from 45 per cent in 2011.
There is also a rapid extension of 3G mobile broadband into rural areas, and ITU estimates that 29 per cent of the 3.4 billion people worldwide living in rural areas will be covered by 3G mobile broadband by the end of 2015. Among the four billion people living in urban areas, 89 per cent will have access to 3G mobile broadband.
Fixed-broadband uptake growing at a slower pace
Fixed-broadband uptake is growing at a slower pace with a seven per cent annual increase over the past three years. While the prices of fixed-broadband services dropped sharply between 2008 and 2011 in developing countries, they have been stagnating since then and even increased slightly in LDCs.
Broadband now affordable in many countries
The figures indicate that broadband is now affordable in 111 countries, with the cost of a basic (fixed or mobile) broadband plan corresponding to less than five per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, thus meeting the target set by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development. The global average cost of a basic fixed-broadband plan, as measured in PPP$ (or purchasing power parity $), is 1.7 times higher than the average cost of a comparable mobile-broadband plan.
Mans Zelmerlow, from Sweden, has been named the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The Grand Final of the world s biggest live musical television event, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, took place on Saturday 23 May in Vienna, Austria.
Mans performed the power pop anthem "Heroes" which was written by Anton Malmberg Hard af Segerstad, Joy Deb and Linnea Deb. He finished the night with 365 points, 62 points ahead of 2nd placed Russia represented by Polina Gagarina singing "A Million Voices." Italy finished in third place.
It is the 6th time Sweden has won the event which has been staged annually since 1956. An estimated audience of 195 million viewers watched the Grand Final which was aired in 45 countries.
The 27 finalists included Australia which was invited to participate for the first time ever as part of the Contest s 60th anniversary celebrations. They performed live in front of an audience of 10,000 inside the Wiener Stadthalle in the Austrian capital. In total, 40 countries competed in this year s Eurovision Song Contest. 13 nations were knocked out in two Semi-Finals held on 19 and 21 May.
The winner was chosen by combining the votes of professional juries and viewers in all 40 participating countries. The jury votes were decided during a dress rehearsal on Friday night and the televotes were cast during Saturday's show.
The Grand Final was opened with a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and last year s winner Conchita Wurst
Around 3,000 people worked on the event at the Weiner Stadthalle on the day of the Grand Final including 800 local volunteers. In total 3,500 tonnes of technical equipment and 26 cameras were used inside the Arena to bring the show to the millions watching around the world.
Over 1,600 journalists from 85 countries were also in the host city Vienna to cover the event.
The 60th Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast live in the 40 participating countries by EBU Members: ORF (Austria), PTV (Armenia), RTSH (Albania), ICTIMAI (Azerbaijan), BTRC (Belarus), VRT (Belgium), RTBF (Belgium), CyBC (Cyprus), CT (Czech Republic), DR (Denmark), ERR (Estonia),YLE (Finland), GPB (Georgia), ARD (Germany), ERT (Greece), MTV (Hungary), R⁄V (Iceland), RT… (Ireland), IBA (Israel), RAI (Italy), LTV (Latvia), LRT (Lithuania), RTCG (Montenegro), MRT (FYROM), PBS (Malta), TRM (Moldova), RTCG (Montenegro), AVROTROS (The Netherlands), NRK (Norway), TVP (Poland), RTP (Portugal), TVR (Romania), Channel 1 (Russia), SMRTV (San Marino), RTS (Serbia), RTVSLO (Slovenia), RTVE (Spain), SVT (Sweden), SRG SSR (Switzerland) and BBC (United Kingdom).
EBU Associate Member SBS (Australia) also broadcast the event live. SBS has televised the Contest in Australia for over 30 years.
The 4 hour Grand Final was also broadcast live in China, New Zealand, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Kosovo and will be aired later in Canada.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was a co-production between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Osterreichischer Rundfunk (ORF).
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