Data from ITU’s 2010 ICT Price Basket also show that relative prices for mobile cellular services decreased by almost 22% from 2008 to 2010, while fixed telephony costs declined by an average of 7% (see Table 1). Over the same period, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide grew from 4.0 to 5.3 billion.

“With ICTs now a primary driver of social and economic development, these results are highly encouraging,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré. “Our next challenge is to find strategies to replicate the ‘mobile miracle’ for broadband, which is fast becoming basic infrastructure. Countries without affordable broadband access risk falling quickly behind.”

ITU’s ICT Price Basket (IPB) is a composite affordability measure based on three sub-baskets – fixed telephone, mobile cellular and fixed broadband Internet services – and computed as a percentage of average Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. As a comprehensive benchmarking tool, the IPB monitors the relative price of ICT services and provides an indication of how affordable services are, across countries, and over time.

Published annually, the latest IPB compares 2008 and 2010 tariffs at global and regional levels and highlights the difference in prices between developed and developing regions. Covering 165 economies, it is the only price basket to monitor the affordability of ICT services worldwide.
ICTs most affordable in the richest countries
This year’s IPB figures underline the fact that pricing remains a major factor in perpetuating the ‘digital divide’ between rich and poor. IPB results reveal a close link between the affordability of ICT services and national income levels: people in high-income countries pay relatively little for ICT services, while those in the world’s poorest countries pay relatively more.

All the economies at the top of the ICT Price Basket (indicating most affordable ICT services) have high GNI per capita, including many small economies, such as Monaco, Macao (China), Liechtenstein, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore. ICT prices correspond to less than 1% of GNI per capita in much of Europe and Asia and the Pacific’s high income economies, as well as in the US and Canada.

At the other end of the scale, the cost of ICT services averages 17% of GNI per capita in developing countries (see Chart 1).
Fixed broadband prices falling steeply
The overall fall in prices for fixed broadband services is mainly due to price decreases in developing countries, where the fixed broadband sub-basket dropped by 52%, compared to 35% in developed countries (see Chart 2). However, it should be noted that steep price drops often reflect the extremely high cost of broadband in developing countries. Even at half the price, the service is often still far beyond the pockets of average citizens.

The top countries with the relatively cheapest broadband prices are all high-income economies and include many of those ranked at the top of the IPB overall: Monaco, Macau (China), Liechtenstein, the US and Austria. Customers in 31 countries – all of them highly industrialized economies – pay only the equivalent of 1% or less of average monthly GNI per capita for an entry-level broadband connection.

In 32 countries, however, the monthly price of an entry-level fixed broadband subscription corresponds to more than half average monthly income. In 19 of those countries, a broadband connection costs more than 100% of monthly GNI per capita. And in a handful of developing countries the monthly price of a fast Internet connection is still more than ten times monthly average income.

Many of the countries where the cost of broadband Internet access is extremely high are UN-designated Least Developed Countries, but the group also includes Tajikistan, Swaziland, Uzbekistan, and Papua New Guinea.
Not surprisingly, both broadband penetration and Internet user levels in these countries remain extremely low.
Steepest price falls in Africa
Relative overall prices decreased by over 50% in Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Guyana, Uganda and Austria (see Table 2). The top ten countries showing the greatest decrease in the ICT Price Basket value were countries with high values to begin with. Apart from Bangladesh, all are from Africa. While the drop is mainly due to price decreases in fixed broadband services, in several countries, including Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Benin, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda, mobile tariffs also decreased considerably.

The regional price trends highlight that while ICT prices are falling in all regions of the world, the greatest price drops occurred in Africa, where fixed broadband prices fell by over 55% and mobile cellular prices by 25%.

Despite this encouraging trend, Africa continues to stand out for its relatively high prices. Fixed broadband Internet access in particular remains prohibitively high, and, across the region as a whole, still represented almost three times the monthly average per capita income. Only one out of ten people in Africa is using the Internet.

This steep rise in phone connectivity far exceeds the targets set out in the LDC III Brussels Programme of Action, which called for average telephone density in LDCs to reach 5% by 2011.

The democratization and rapid spread of mobile cellular technology – which, in 2001, was still considered the province of people in wealthy countries – has transformed the ICT landscape in the world’s 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries, bringing connectivity to almost 250 million people in LDCs.

ITU’s latest analysis of strategies to boost ICT penetration and leverage this to accelerate development in other economic and social sectors was also released at the conference, in the form of two new reports: ICTs and Telecommunications in Least Developed Countries and The Role of ICT in Advancing Growth in Least Developed Countries.

ITU figures confirm that while the number of fixed lines has barely risen in LDCs over the past decade, reflecting global trends, mobile access has mushroomed, with cumulative annual growth rates over the past five years of 42.6% in LDCs compared to just 7.1% in developed countries.

In 2009, only a tiny handful of LDCs – Myanmar, Kiribati, Eritrea and Ethiopia – still had mobile penetration below the LDC III target of 5% – and that number is expected to shrink further by mid-2010.
But still far too few Internet users in LDCs.

The past decade has also seen significant progress in getting people in LDCs online, with 2.5% average Internet penetration by the end of 2010, compared to under 0.3% in 2001. But that is nothing like enough, according to ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré, and remains well below the Brussels III target of 10%.

“People ask me if Internet penetration is really such a high priority for people who, on a daily basis, face a lack of safe drinking water, rising food prices, and a chronic shortage of healthcare,” said Dr Touré. “My answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Because the Internet – and especially broadband – is an extraordinary enabler which has potential to massively expand the effective delivery of vital services, such as healthcare and education. Nowhere is this more important than in countries where people are chronically deprived of these services.”

In order to help countries better exploit ICTs to drive development, ITU made five key commitments to the conference which have been incorporated into the Istanbul Programme of Action for LDCs 2011-2020.
In brief, they cover:
- actions to increase the average phone density in LDCs to 25 lines per 100 inhabitants and the number of Internet connections to 15 per 100 inhabitants by 2020.
- a comprehensive capacity building and digital inclusion programme.
- strategies to help LDCs maximize the selection and use of appropriate new technologies, such as broadband, digital broadcasting and next-generation networks.
- Assistance in dealing with cybersecurity issues and strategies to build trust and confidence in ICT networks.
- Assistance in creating and maintaining a propitious environment for LDC development through an enabling policy and regulatory environment.

Expanded access to ICTs is already bringing services such as mobile banking to tens of millions of people in the developing world, giving them a level of financial power to manage their lives which they have never before enjoyed.

“There are many reasons to be optimistic,” said Dr Touré. “In the past two years alone we have seen a remarkable surge in national and international bandwidth in developing countries, with several new submarine cables being landed, and new advanced technologies which can help affordably bridge the digital divide. Some of the world’s most disadvantaged countries are already showing what can be achieved with the right combination of political will and innovative public-private partnership.”

The need to highlight the importance of broadband, particularly at the national level, is the main reason why ITU set up the Broadband Commission for Digital Development last year, in partnership with UNESCO.

Identifying innovative ways to get poorer nations connected to high-speed networks will be one focus of ITU’s forthcoming Global Broadband Summit, which will take place in Geneva in October this year, in conjunction with the ITU Telecom 40th anniversary event.

Copies of ITU reports ICTs and Telecommunications in Least Developed Countries and The Role of ICT in Advancing Growth in Least Developed Countries can be freely downloaded at: www.itu.int/ITU-D/ldc/index.html

This immediately presents questions: What is professionalism in journalism? What yardsticks should be used to measure quality in journalism?

Professionalism in journalism is a means to achieving quality journalism. Though journalism has no entrance requirements and discrete body of knowledge which are guardians of professionalism (Singer, 2003), it has ethics and standards. Professionalism in journalism would therefore mean following a set of ethics and standards while practicing journalism. Contrary to this, undermines journalism profession. It is this, I base on to argue that online news sites undermine the journalism profession.

In a world, where work of some trained journalists is considered wanting, the person who has received no journalism skills, practice or ethic training is bound to undermine the journalism profession if he develops and publishes content. As Singer (2003:141) has contended, “the possession of esoteric knowledge, which gives those who posses it an expertise not shared by those whom they serve, is a core characteristic of professionalism.” Without enough knowledge, technique and training in journalism, online journalists are bound to undermine the basic principles of journalism.

The everyone-is-a publisher phenomenon being witnessed in the online news sites is increasingly threatening the authenticity and credibility of news. Who checks the news authenticity in such sites? Who verifies? In journalism profession, it is a norm to check facts, be fair and accurate. The audience has a right to receive tested and verified information of relevance. Therefore, journalism like that of online news sites, which is insensitive to this, is likely to impair and frustrate the very recognition and presentation it cerebrates.

Quality and professionalism in journalism can only be measured by looking at the extent to which one adheres to ethical and standard issues and how committed he is to public service. Respect for principles of truth, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability is paramount. However, adhering to this is not possible for free-range journalists . This case is based on Singer (2003:153) argument that, “one qualifies as a professional (Journalist) precisely because of a loss of individual control over the publication or broadcast of one’s work.” Here, the emphasis in journalism is put not to just disseminate information but also to analyze, detect patterns, spot trends and increase social understanding.

This in not to say that online journalism is unimportant. It generates significant amount of information which would otherwise go unnoticed by mainstream journalists . In countries where state-run or party funded media dominate, online news sites are a source of independent information. As Castells (2001:164) contends, these offer “extraordinary potential for the expression of citizen rights and for communication of human values.”

The challenge no for genuine journalists is to keep their, ethics, standards, visibility and roles with in this information age.

References

Castells, M. (2000) The Rise of the Network Society. Volume 1, Oxford: Backwell publishers.

Castells, M. (2001) The internet galaxy: reflections on the internet, business, and society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Granqvist, M ()2005) assessing ICT in development: a critical perspective. In O. Hemer and T. Tufte (ed.) Media and Global Change Rethinking Communication for Development. (P.285-296) Buenos Aires: Nordicom

Rao, M. (2005) The Information Society’s Visions and Realities in Developing Countries. In O. Hemer and T. Tufte (ed.) Media and Global Change Rethinking Communication for Development. (P.271-284) Buenos Aires: Nordicom.

Gupta, S (2006) ICTs for the Poorest of the Rural poor-Now and How? Malmo University.

Singer, B (2003) Who are these Guys? The Online Challenge to the Notion of Journalistic Professionalism. Journalism, Theory, Practice and Criticism. (P.139-163) London: SAGE Publication.

Singhal, et al (2001) India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock Carts to Cyber Marts. London; New Delhi: Sage.

Singhal, et al (2005) Bridging digital divides: Lessons learned from the IT initiatives of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In O. Hemer and T. Tufte (ed.) Media and Global Change Rethinking Communication for Development. (P.427-433) Buenos Aires: Nordicom

Three suspected Al Shabab suicide bombers killed more than 80 people, including one American, in successive bombings at two places in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, where fans were watching the World Cup on TV in July 2010.

This occurred suddenly. The death of hundreds of people certainly made news because it was unusual. Many people felt a strong emotional response to the story. It was also a story that was fitting well with the news organization’s schedule because it just happened all of a sudden. As already noted, bad news is good news due to its characteristics of unexpectedness, big impact and consonant

2 Bududa landslides

Three entire villages were erased and 400 people got buried alive under the Bududa landslide on 1st March 2010 in Eastern Uganda. The landslides followed a period of unusually heavy rain in the region,

Like, the Al shabab attack on Uganda, this occurred suddenly. The death of hundreds of people certainly made news because it was unusual. More still, this was the worst rains and flooding in recent history to strike eastern Uganda. It had to make news certainly.

3 President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda kicked off his rap career

While addressing a huge crowd of youth supporters on October. 23, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni decided to show off his rap prowess. He wowed the crowd with some lyrics of his own rap that later came to be named “ You Want Another Rap.” The song was a hit for more than 2 months on almost all Uganda radio stations and discotheques.

This made news because it was unusual. Few Presidents sing, leave alone rapping.

4 The Jigger Invasion of Busoga region.

The jigger infestation of the Busoga region was a big story in the Ugandan media and is now on the lips of many Ugandan politicians, policy makers, and health workers. Close to 50 people died in the region as a result of jigger related diseases.

While jiggers themselves are not fatal, infestations made a big story because in this era, such a thing is unexpected. They exposed the ignorance and poor hygiene in the region. This was a human interest story

5 The burning of the world famous Kasubi Tombs

On 15th March, Kasubi tombs in Kasubi Kampala were burnt by fire, whose origin was not immediately established. The Police Fire Brigade rushed to the scene but its efforts to put out the raging fire at the traditional burial grounds of Buganda kings were disrupted by a crowd. The site was a burial ground for four kings of Buganda Kingdom. It is a religious centre for the royal family, a place where the Buganda King and his representatives frequently carry out important rituals.

This was newsworthy because it was accidental and has a big impact too not only in Uganda but worldwide because this was s a world heritage site. The occurrence was unexpectedness and unusual.

Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks that published anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive governmental, corporate, organizational, and religious information changed the nature of confidential information worldwide. It also highlighted the strength of internet.

Wikileaks made headlines because it acted as a whistleblower. It brought sensitive but important news and information to the public. This was regularly not just once or twice. It directly hit people in the public eye who have higher news value than obscure people. The media pay attention to important people. Prominent men and women and their acts make news.

2 Hosting of World Cup in South Africa.

The successful hosting of World Cup for the first time on the African soil in South Africa in June and July 2010 was a credit not only to South Africa but the African continent at large.

The event was newsworthy because of its massive size. It attracted football teams from all the continents on the earth and millions of football fans. The world cup’s Frequency alone made it newsworthy. The event occurs only after 4 years. Such an event makes news more than those which occur gradually.

3 The earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12th

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake which hit Haiti devastated the already poor country. About 230,000 people died, 300,000 others were injured and were 1,000,000 left homeless.

This occurred suddenly. The death of thousands of people certainly made news because it was unusual. Many people felt a strong emotional response to the story. It was also a story that was fitting well with the news organization’s schedule. More still, bad news is good news due to its characteristics of unexpectedness, big impact and consonance.

4 Chile Miners that were trapped underground

The trapping and rescue of 33 miners from deep underground in northern Chile for more than two months was amazing. The men had been trapped underground since 5th August, when a rockfall caused a tunnel to collapse.

Which man had ever lived underground for more than two months? This was very unusual. This made it newsworthy. This story had human interest because it was about people who had been trapped.

5 Iraq war.

Amidst attacks on innocent people by suicide bombers, United States forces withdrew 90,000 combat troops from Iraq. Iraq continued to be a turbulent cauldron of violence and instability. More than 4,400 U.S. troops were killed in the Iraq War and at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians.

This was newsworthy because it showed to the whole world that the Iraq conflict is not over. It affected many people not only in Irag but also in USA.

This is according to Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi.
Technically, Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting allows efficient utilization of the spectrum where a single channel carries more programs which give room for spared frequencies to be reserved for other services.

What is migration from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting?
It is the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting, utilizing digital signals rather than analogue waveforms to carry broadcast over assigned frequency bands. Audio and video are processed electronically and converted into a digital signal. This digital signal is then transmitted from a terrestrial site, over the air, received by a normal roof top TV antenna and reconverted by receivers or set- top boxes into the analogue format required by your existing TV set.

Why must Uganda migrate?
The Regional Radio communication Conference (RRC-06) of which Uganda is a signatory set 17 June 2015 as the deadline for all countries to migrate from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting. Analogue technology is expensive to maintain, frequency inefficient and therefore gradually getting obsolete. Frequency spectrum is a scarce resource and its efficient use is critical. Digital broadcasting means that more valuable spectrum can be released and used for other services like fire, ambulance, police, military and other emergency services. All over the world migration to digital broadcasting is taking place, Uganda however plans to shut off the analogue signal by December 2012 in order to ensure a smooth transition.

What are the advantages of Digital Broadcasting?
With the adoption of digital broadcasting viewers in Uganda will be able to enjoy improved reception quality, a larger variety of channels, enhanced broadcasting applications like the Electronic Program Guide, multimedia data and entertainment services, all this capped with more efficient use of the spectrum in the country. The existing and future broadcasters will also reap the benefits from reduced installations and transmission costs, and superior technology in their operations. Digital broadcasting also presents an added opportunity for local content development since it will be a core part of the migration effort. In addition it will provide viewers with an opportunity to access newer and cheaper pay TV channels.

What is Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)?
Terrestrial (land based) means television broadcast using transmission antennas located on the surface of the earth, usually on a mast, tower or building. For Kampala this tower is located at Kololo. If you are within the area covered by a tower, then you will be able to receive the broadcast services via an antenna which is usually placed on the roof, the antenna could also be placed indoor close to the television set. The antenna then needs to be connected to a set top-box (STB) or to a digital ready TV set. DTT is therefore the broadcast of digital signals to the viewers through a conventional antenna as opposed to a satellite dish or cable connection.

What is the difference between analogue TV and digital TV?
In analogue, the signal is transmitted using electromagnetic waves which is not very capacity efficient. In digital the signal is compressed using encoding techniques, to allow for more channels to be broadcast. Based on the compression technology 8 channels can be provided in the same frequency as one analogue channel. This would enable the TV stations to develop niche channels such as news, sports and movie channels. The Government would also be able to broadcast dedicated channels for public service such as health, agriculture, gender, development and other education services.

Will I need to buy a new TV to receive Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)?
Most current analogue sets will be able to receive DTT using an STB. Your TV must have audio and video inputs (A/V), or alternatively have an RF input, to ensure that your set-top box can connect to your TV. If you have this, you should be able to use your current TV set. You don’t need a high definition (HD) TV, LCD, TV to receive DTT. In the next few years, there will also be TV sets available on the market with an integrated set-top box (that means a set-top box already built in with the TV).

What is a set- top box?
The set-top-box (STB) also referred to as a decoder is a receiver that when connected to your TV will decode the digital signal to enable the channels to be displayed on your analogue television set. This STB also has a provision for offering pay TV service to the viewers. Existing decoders on the market for satellite reception will not work for DTT. Without the STB you will be unable to access the digital terrestrial television services on your television set.

What is the timetable for migration in Uganda?
The migration to digital has commenced and is expected to be completed by December 2012. During the migration period, viewers will be able to receive digital as well as the current analogue signals. This period is referred to as the simulcast period due to the broadcast of both analog and digital signals. However, once the analogue shut off is done at the end of 2012, viewers will need to have a DTT set-top box to receive either free-to air- television stations or pay TV services on the DTT platform.

The report describes, with concrete examples, how ICTs can achieve these goals in three main ways:

• By driving down emissions in the ICT sector itself
• By cutting emissions and raising energy efficiency in other sectors
• By using ICT-based systems to monitor weather and the environment worldwide, as well as to swiftly transmit data, analysis and alerts.

The environmental impact of ICTs is being tackled through the introduction of more efficient equipment and networks, alongside better waste management through the entire lifecycle of electronic devices, according to the report. It notes that for every watt of energy saved by a billion end users of ICT equipment, a whole power plant is no longer required. And all sectors of the economy can significantly reduce their energy needs (and thus GHG emissions) through ICTs, which, for example, can maximize the efficiency of power systems in “smart” grids that distribute electricity with much less wastage and can harness effectively the power from renewable resources.

The report also highlights the crucial importance of ICTs in keeping watch over the Earth’s climate and weather, and in warning of impending natural disasters. Thousands of lives are saved every year through monitoring systems that use data from satellites as well as sensors on land and sea. To ensure that these operations can be undertaken without interference, ITU, as the international steward of the limited resource of radio-frequency spectrum, allocates the necessary frequencies and approves technical standards.

Computing power and broadband networks are essential in analyzing these monitoring data and transmitting the results. In addition, notes the report, ICTs – and especially broadband Internet access – are playing an increasing role in delivering services that help to create and support a sustainable future. These include online access to education and medical services, even in remote communities, as well as information that helps protect food security. Within the next ten years, up to 250 million people living in Africa will experience increased water stress, and crop yields in some African countries are expected to drop by half, according to the report. ICTs can systematically monitor world supplies and shortages of water and food crops, as well as delivering advice to farmers on how to improve yields.

“ICTs are uniquely powerful tools for reducing emissions in every other sector. They also play an essential role in climate science. And because of this major role, they offer one of the most significant opportunities to reduce GHG emissions, especially in those industries that are among the highest producers of CO2, such as energy generation, waste disposal, construction and transport,” commented ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré. “I call on the international community to recognize that ICTs must be a key component of efforts to mitigate climate change, and that ICTs support what climate change threatens most: sustainable development,” he added.

“Actual implementation of sustainable ICTs is a critical step in achieving sustainable development. ICTs can have a net enabling effect that contributes to a low carbon economy, starting with the supply chain, energy efficiency in the use phase all the way through end of life management. When ICTs are applied, measurement of this net effect compared to business as usual is possible. GeSI members are fully committed to raises awareness by engaging with other stakeholders so we can fully realize the benefits of ICTs” stated GeSI Chair, Luis Neves.

Under the Bali Action Plan, issued in 2007 at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP-13) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), ICTs are included in actions to promote technology-based sustainable development, including mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. The new report from ITU and GeSI shows how powerful ICTs are in this effort. It calls for the inclusion of ICTs in national mitigation plans. And it concludes quoting from a communiqué from ITU to COP-16 (in Cancun, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010) “delegates are urged to look to ICTs in the context of their own sectoral emissions to take maximum advantage of the power of ICTs to reduce emissions worldwide and to enhance action on adaptation, taking into account the needs of developing countries.
”
ITU and GeSI sign agreement to collaborate on measuring the ICT impact

In order to fully appreciate the impact of ICTs in meeting the challenge of climate change, it is necessary to see trustworthy statistics. Using ICTs in tackling climate change notes that Study Group 5 in ITU’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is in the process of approving a standard that presents the general principles on how to assess the environmental impact of ICTs and outlines the various methodologies that are being developed by ITU, in cooperation with UNFCCC and other bodies, including GeSI. These will allow fair comparisons to be made among projects, communities and even countries as a whole, when it comes to using ICTs to reduce emissions.

On 17 November 2010, an agreement was concluded by ITU and GeSI to formalize their cooperation in the area of measuring the impact of ICTs. It was signed by Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, and by Luis Neves, Chairman of the Board of GeSI, and has the objective of developing a standardized common methodology which will be recognized globally for the measurement of the GHG emissions of ICTs themselves and the reduction of emissions enabled by ICTs in other sectors.

The report by ITU and GeSI Using ICTs in tackling climate change can be viewed and downloaded here. www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/itu-gesi-report.html

The 2010 Highway Africa conference took place in July and not the usual September.

Highway Africa is an annual ICT conference hosted by Rhodes University which is situated in Grahamstown, South Africa. The conference is the world’s largest gathering of African journalists.

Participants at Highway Africa 2008

Each year, more than 600 delegates from across the globe attend the conference to discuss issues relating to Internet governance, ICT policy and media for democracy.

The Highway Africa Conference dates were 05-07 July 2010. The theme of the conference was: Reporting Africa – 2010, Development and Democracy. Get more from: www.highwayafrica.com

Eden Grove Complex

The annual Symantec Internet Security Threat Report says Hi-tech criminals carryout more than 100 attacks a second on the world’s computers.

The Symantec Internet Security Threat Report provides an annual overview and detailed analysis of Internet threat activity, malicious code, and known vulnerabilities. The report also discusses trends in phishing, spam and observed activities on underground economy servers.

The April 2010 report notes that attacks one attack every 4.5 seconds affect a computer.

The wave of attacks was driven by a steep rise in malicious software in circulation, said the annual report.

The number of malware (malicious software) samples that Symantec saw in 2009 was 71% higher than in 2008.

This meant, said Symantec, that 51% of all the viruses, trojans and other malicious programs it has ever seen were logged during 2009. In total, Symantec identified almost 2.9 million items of malicious code during that 12 month period.

During 2009, Symnatec say more than 90,000 variants of the Zeus kit and it was responsible for the growth of one of the most prolific malware families during the year.

The brand new comprehensive data, forecasts and analysis on the global ICT market show that mobile growth is continuing unabated, with global mobile subscriptions expected to reach 4.6 billion by the end of the year, and mobile broadband subscriptions to top 600 million in 2009, having overtaken fixed broadband subscribers in 2008.

Mobile technologies are making major inroads toward extending ICTs in developing countries, with a number of nations launching and commercially offering IMT2000/3G networks and services. But ITU’s statistics also highlight important regional discrepancies, with mobile broadband penetration rates still low in many African countries and other developing nations.

More than a quarter of the world’s population is online and using the Internet, as of 2009. Ever-increasing numbers are opting for high-speed Internet access, with fixed broadband subscriber numbers more than tripling from 150 million in 2004 to an estimated 500 million by the end of 2009.

Rapid high-speed Internet growth in the developed world contrasts starkly with the state of play in the developing world. In Africa, for example, there is only one fixed broadband subscriber for every 1,000 inhabitants, compared with Europe where there are some 200 subscribers per 1,000 people. The relative price for ICT services (especially broadband) is highest in Africa, the region with the lowest income levels. The report finds that China has the world’s largest fixed broadband market, overtaking its closest rival, the US, at the end of 2008.

ITU estimates show that three quarters of households now own a television set and over a quarter of people globally – some 1.9bn – now have access to a computer at home. This demonstrates the huge market potential in developing countries, where TV penetration is already high, for converged devices, as the mobile, television and Internet worlds collide. Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General says, “ICTs are vital within developing countries to ensure that ordinary people can fully participate in the knowledge economy of the 21^st century. We have seen a positive impact on services such as health and education in markets where ICT growth has been strong.”

Within the UN system, ITU is the main source of internationally comparable data and statistics on ICT. The Market Information and Statistics Division of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) collects, harmonizes and disseminates more than 100 telecommunication and ICT indicators from over 200 economies worldwide. Data are accessible online through the ICT Eye portal, on CD and in print publications. The Market Information and Statistics Division regularly publishes analytical reports illustrating the latest trends in the sector. It also monitors the development of the digital divide and has developed widely used benchmarking tools, such as the ICT Development Index (IDI).

Sami Al Basheer, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, said, “We are encouraged to see so much growth across developed and developing regions, but there is still a large digital divide, and an impending broadband divide, which needs to be addressed urgently. Heads of State and industry leaders will collaborate at ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 to identify the right policies and regulations to support and encourage future ICT growth worldwide. ITU, through its Development Sector, is working with all stakeholders to promote the development of ICT services for all segments of society in all regions of the world.