IT and society: ITU releases world index on IT access

Sweden, Luxemburg and South Korea hold first three places in the list of leaders of modern IT access, according to the report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). It has released the so-called telecommunications access index. Among others in the top ten are Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Japan, Norway and the UK. The United States was placed 19^th, Estonia – 22^nd, Russia – 48^th and Belarus – 55^th on the list.

The ITU experts highlight that despite a world economic crisis, more and more people are gaining access to mobile telephones and the Internet. An estimated 57 per cent of people in developing countries now have access to mobile phones, up from 23 per cent in 2005.

Internet usage had also increased with 26 per cent of the world's population - some 1.7 billion people. In poor countries every 5^th citizen has an access to the web.

The ITU’s index report covers 159 countries and territories. It also shows that people of China, Singapore, Kuwait, the United States and Denmark pay less than all others for modern IT access. Russia and Belarus are the leaders among the CIS countries to provide Internet and mobile phones’ access.