Foreign
The number of people who are online have increased nearly fourfold to 4.1 billion since 2005, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a report.
The report also warned women’s internet use is falling behind in several regions.
Internet use has expanded to 54 per cent of the global population, according to the report that the UN agency published on Tuesday in Geneva.
However, 3.6 billion people are still offline, especially in the least developed countries.
“It will require targeted efforts to lower the cost of broadband and innovative policies to finance network rollout to unconnected populations,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who leads the ITU’s telecommunication development unit.
The report also warned that the gap between male and female internet users was growing in Africa, Arab countries and the Asia-Pacific region.
Higher mobile phone ownership rates among men are driving this divide as handheld devices have become key tools for going online.
The ITU called for measures to increase mobile phone ownership among women, and to develop people’s basic digital skills in the least developed countries. (NAN)
-Nov 5, 2019 @15:20 GMT |
Tags: UN: Global internet use quadrupled since 2005; gender gap growing
