1. 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

2. 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)

3. 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