Extending The Information Society To All - infoDev Forum - Extending The Information Society To All Mohsen A. Khalil Director Global Information & Communication Technologies Department The World Bank Group Tunisia November 17, 2005

Developing countries catching up 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Million Subscribers High income Low & Middle income Global Mobile Subscribers Mobile has become the dominant platform over fixed Overall, voice connectivity gap shrinking, but significant demand needs remain unfulfilled Broadband is growing exponentially in developed markets. Broadband take-up in developing countries expected to mirror today’s mobile footprint. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Penetration of Population (%) Fixed Penetration Mobile Penetration Million Subscribers Global Broadband Subscribers Source: Pyramid Research – GICT Workshop (April 2005)

But challenges remain… Policy Driven Market Driven To extend access to the poor 1 billion 2 billion 3 billion 4 billion 5 billion 6 billion Income  To use ICT as an enabler ICT Private Sector Social Environment Transport Urban Agriculture Poverty Education Energy Trade Health Governance Financial Gender Rural Water Telecom e-government Media Knowledge Technology Policy & Reg Investment e-business Consumer Electronics Media/ Entertainment Information Technology Telecoms Marketing Infrastructure Business Models To deal with convergence