Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009 – Asia and the Pacific

The first report of a series of regional statistical profiles on the information society prepared for the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2010. The Asia and Pacific region is a global leader in fixed telephone lines, mobile cellular telephone subscriptions, and broadband Internet numbers. Asian economies are leaders in information society developments and high-speed Internet access and usage. However, income distribution, population, and geography are very diverse, correlating with disparities in ICT uptake. Internet usage penetration ranges from 70% in advanced economies to less than 1% in developing areas. 80% of the population in the region as a whole has broadband access at speeds reaching 50 Mbps. In lower income economies, limited Internet access only reaches speeds less than 2 Mbps. This report highlights ICT developments in the Asia and Pacific region, provides statistical indicators for each country, and features two benchmarking tools – the ITU ICT Deployment Index (IDI) and the ICT Price Basket – to analyze the region. Chapter 2 of this report is based on the 2008 ITU Asia-Pacific Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Report.