Figure 1-1-1-1 provides snapshots of the mobile-phone penetration rate in 2000 and 2012 superimposed on a world map. In 2000, the penetration rate was already over 75 percent in Japan, South Korea, and some Euro-pean nations. The rate had not yet crossed the 50-per-cent line in North America or Australia and it had not reached even 25 percent in developing nations.

As of 2012, however, the map had completely trans-

formed: the penetration rate of mobile phones exceeds 75 percent not only in developed nations but also in most developing countries. The map makes it evident that mo-bile phones have spread on a truly global scale, in devel-oped and developing countries alike.

The same trend is seen with the state of Internet pro-liferation. This demonstrates that ICT has rapidly ex-panded around the world in just a dozen years.

ICT is spreading throughout the world as shown above, and this trend is widely seen in developing coun-tries as well. In 2005, there were 7.8 Internet users and 22.9 mobile phone subscriptions for every 100 inhabit-

ants in developing countries. By 2014, these figures will soar to 32.4 Internet users and 90.2 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (Figure 1-2-1-1).

Section 1　Rapid Worldwide ICT Proliferation

Section 2　ICT Proliferation in Developing Nations

(Source) “Study Report on Success Factors in Global ICT Industry Strategies and Future Directions,” MIC (2014)Prepared from ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2013 data

Figure 1-1-1-1 Transitions in the global penetration rate of mobile phones and the Internet

＜10%≦ ＜25%≦ ＜50%≦ ＜75%≦ ＜10%≦ ＜25%≦ ＜50%≦ ＜75%≦

＜25%≦ ＜50%≦ ＜75%≦ ＜25%≦ ＜50%≦ ＜75%≦

70

25

20

15

10

5

0

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 2000 2012

2000 2012

44.7times

38.6times40.8times32.7times12.8times28.3times

25.3times

5.6times

4.2times

2.1times

2.7times

42.1times83.5times10.8times

241.7times

12.9times

13.6times

2.7times2.8times2.1times

Global mobile phone penetration rate in 2000 (average): 12.1%

Global Internet penetration rate in 2000 (average): 6.5%

Global mobile phone penetration rate in 2012 (average): 89.5%

Global Internet penetration rate in 2012 (average): 35.4%

No data No data

No dataNo data

100s｠of millions Mobile phone contracts

Internet contracts100s of millions

Contracts outside of Japan, North America, and Europe jumped from 260 million to 5.05 billion (a 19.7 times increase)

AfricaArab Russian Region (CIS) Latin America and Mexico India China EuropeUS. and Canada Japan Asia-Pacific (except Japan, China and India)

Contracts outside of Japan, North America, and Europe jumped from 110 million to 1.65 billion (a 14.7 times increase)

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Chapter 1ICT Proliferation on a Worldwide Scale

CW6_AX102_08_D11_C.indd 2 2014/11/05 14:37:48

As mobile phones and other ICT devices spread through developing countries and other places, efforts are being made to utilize these devices to overcome

various social issues. Consequently, ICT is quickly be-coming an essential infrastructure supporting the lives of people.

1. Fast rise of mobile money transfer systems in developing countriesThe growth of mobile phones has been remarkable in

developing countries, despite 2.5 billion people without bank accounts. This has spurred the rapid proliferation of mobile money transfer services that can be accessed with the prepaid SIM cards widely available in develop-ing countries. According to “State of the Industry 2013:

Mobile Financial Services for the Unbanked” released by the GSMA in March 2014, there were 219 mobile money transfer services in 84 countries at the end of 2013, the majority (51.7 percent) of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 1-3-1-1).

2. MOOCsMassive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online

courses where students preregister and study a specific subject. Unlike common online courses, students who complete the requirements of a MOOC receive a course diploma. Various educational institutions, regardless of

country, participate in U.S. and European MOOC plat-forms—such as Coursera, edX, Udacity, Future Learn, Open2Study, and OpenEd—and provide online courses to students around the world (Figure 1-3-2-1).

3. Application of mobile phones to the agriculture sectorAfrica’s economic growth has brought with it a bur-

geoning middle class that is willing to pay higher prices for good quality food. A World Bank report forecasts that if national governments step up deregulation and other efforts in this sector, the annual African agricul-ture market, which was valued at 313 billion dollars in 2010, will triple to 1 trillion dollars by 2030. Much of this

growth will owe to demand from the middle class.

Section 3　Solving Public Issues with ICT

Figure 1-2-1-1 No. of Internet users and mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

*Estimated(Source) ITU

50.950.9

78.378.3

7.87.8

32.432.415.815.8

40.440.4

0102030405060708090

100

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014*

WordDeveloped Developing

No. of Internet users per 100 inhabitants

020406080

100120140

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014*

82.1 82.1

120.8 120.8

22.9 22.9

90.2 90.2

33.9 33.9

95.5 95.5

WordDeveloped Developing

No. of mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Figure 1-3-1-1 Transitions in mobile money transfer services worldwide

(Sources) “Study Report on the State of ICT Use and Application in Developing Nations,” MIC (2014) GSMA

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4. Growth of mobile health, particularly in AfricaAccording to the World Health Organization, there

were 35.3 million people living with HIV worldwide in 2012. This is a 17 percent increase, representing some 5 million people, over 11 years from the 30.3 million HIV patients in the world in 2001. Around 25 million of these people, or 71 percent of the world’s total, are concen-

trated in Sub-Saharan Africa.The Praekelt Foundation, an NPO established in

South Africa in 2007, has been providing information to prevent HIV via mobile phones that are now increasing-ly available in Africa. Already 50 million people are using Praekelt’s services in 15 Sub-Saharan countries.

Figure 1-3-2-1 Spread of organizations offering MOOCs (as of Oct. 2013)

(Source) “Study Report on the Social Impacts of ICT Advancement, ” MIC (2014)http://edutechnica.com/moocmap/#

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