Poor nations soar in cell phone use while Web access lags

While the vast majority -- or two-thirds -- of the globe's cell phone subscriptions are now in less developed nations, the Internet is still much less available there than in more advanced countries in North America, western Europe, and the Asia-Pacific, says a new study by a United Nations agency.

In Africa, for example, 28% of the population today has a mobile phone subscription, up substantially from merely 2 percent in the year 2000, according to the report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). On the other hand, only 5% of the African population now uses the Internet, in comparison to a worldwide rate of 23%. Fixed Internet access in developing nations still tends to be limited, and often slow and expensive, too, the ITU explains.

The report also notes, however, that with 3G services emerging rapidly in developing nations as well as elsewhere, "there is a clear potential for mobile broadband to connect more and more people [to the Internet] -- and at higher speed." Outside of Africa, other parts of the world now enjoying rapid cell phone growth include China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.