Kuwait - KUNA
Kuwait has become the only Arab nation to have launched the Information Society Index (ISI) in coordination with several other nations around the world, the Ministry of Communications said on Wednesday.
This came after Kuwait hosted the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Economic and Financial Forum of Telecommunications/ICTs for Arab States.
The report is an internationally accredited statistical and analytical report which discusses the ability of nations to participate in the information revolution.
According to the report, the number of mobile phone users, by the end of 2014, will reach seven billion. It added that this number nears the total population of the world - despite some areas lacking mobile network coverage, according to the ministry.
By the end of the year, around 44 percent of families will have access to the internet from home, compared to 40 percent in 2013 and 30 percent in 2010. This percentage constitutes 78 percent for advanced nations and 31 percent for developing nations.
The launching of the report from Kuwait is a result of its dynamic role in the international telecommunications domain, and is due to the importance of its membership status at the ITU, the ministry added.