Worldwide in 2024 there are 112 mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and 95 mobile broadband subscriptions. The latter have thus almost caught up to the former, following a period of rapid growth: thus, in the past five years, the annual growth of mobile broadband subscriptions has averaged five per cent, almost five times the rate for mobile-cellular subscriptions (1.1 per cent). This can be explained by the evolution of consumption patterns towards data-based services and the phasing out of cellular-only services and offers.
Fixed broadband subscriptions have grown even more rapidly, at 5.9 per cent on average every year for the last five years. Fixed-telephone subscriptions, on the other hand, continue to decline steadily, on average by 2.8 per cent per year for the last five years.
At 9.1 billion, the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions exceeds the total world population by 12.1 per cent. In high-income countries, there are about 138 mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, almost twice the level in low-income countries (71 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants). Among the regions, the CIS has the highest penetration, with nearly three subscriptions for every two people (147 per 100 inhabitants), 1.5 times the penetration rate of Africa (98).
Penetration rates for fixed subscriptions are much lower than for mobile subscriptions, because fixed connections are usually shared by several people in a household. Nonetheless, the inequalities in access to fixed connections across countries are far higher than for mobile connectivity. Such connections are relatively common in high-income countries (38 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants), but almost non-existent in low-income countries, due mainly to a lack of infrastructure, commonly the result of insufficient investment, regulatory challenges, and the high cost of expanding network coverage in underserved regions.