Analysis of. The Measuring the Information Society Report 2013

Transcription

1 Analysis of The Measuring the Information Society Report 2013 December 2013

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Key Highlights ICT Development Index (IDI) ICT Prices ICT Price Basket (IBP) Fixed Broadband prices Mobile Broadband prices Digital Natives The ICT Development Index Definition The Methodology ICT Development Index (IDI), The Upper middle income group IDI Group levels in Average Regional IDI levels The 3 components of IDI for Mauritius, 2011 and In-depth Analysis of IDI for Mauritius ICT Access ICT Use ICT Skills Cost and Affordability of Broadband ICT Price Basket (IPB) The ICT Price Basket (IPB), IPB within the Upper middle income group... 18

3 The 3 sets of tariff for IPB for Mauritius, 2011 and Fixed Broadband Prices (2012 data) Mobile Broadband Prices for Mauritius (2012 data) Measuring digital natives The Global trend Annex 1: The IDI Framework 2012 (Components of IDI) Annex 2: Benchmarking components of IDI Annex 3: ICT Price Basket Framework Annex 4: Mobile Broadband Prices Annex 5: Youth Internet Penetration Annex 6: Income group classification... 41

4 List of Tables Table 1: Mobile Broadband price as a % of GNI... 4 Table 2: ICT Development Index 2012 (for 30 selected Economies)... 8 Table 3: IDI within the Upper Middle income Table 4: IDI by group levels Table 5: Average IDI levels by Region Table 6: IDI sub-indices Table 7: Eleven indicators of IDI Table 8: ICT Price Basket (IPB) Table 9: IBP for the upper middle income group Table 10: IPB Tariff sets Table 11: Fixed Broadband Prices Table 12: Regional Fixed Broadband prices Table 13: Africa Fixed Broadband Prices Table 14: Mobile Broadband Prices for Mauritius Table 15: Digital Natives for selected countries... 25

5 1. Introduction The objective of this report is to show the progress of Mauritius in terms of developments in the diffusion and uptake of ICTs. The outcomes of this document are based on an in-depth analysis of the Measuring the Information Society Report (MIS) 2013 which is published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Mauritius has been benchmarked with some selected countries. The MIS Report 2013 which is now in its fifth consecutive year identifies key ICT developments and tracks the cost and affordability of ICT services, in accordance with internationally agreed methodologies. The report presents two tools for benchmarking the information society namely the ICT Development Index (IDI) and the ICT Price Basket (IPB). The ICT Development Index (IDI) ranks 157 countries performance with regard to ICT infrastructure and uptake while the ICT Price Basket (IPB) tracks and compares the cost and affordability of ICT services in more than 160 countries globally. In addition, the 2013 report has emphasized much on fixed broadband prices providing rankings and prices (as a percentage of GNI) for 169 countries. The report has also introduced new set of data to analyse mobile-broadband prices and its affordability for 126 countries worldwide. Also, statistics are provided with the new concept of Digital Natives. 2. Key Highlights 2.1 ICT Development Index (IDI) a. Mauritius is ranked 72 nd with an IDI of 4.55 in 2012, compared to a rank of 74 th and IDI of 4.23 in The IDI improved by 7.6 per cent. The world average has improved by 4.8 per cent between 2011 and b. The country is ranked 2 nd in the African continent after Seychelles which has a score of 4.75 and is ranked 64 th. c. With an IDI of 4.55, Mauritius is ranked 25 th among the 49 countries of the upper middle income group. Latvia and Poland top the group with an IDI of 6.36 and 6.31 respectively. (see section 3.4) 2

6 d. The report ranks the Republic of Korea (8.57) as the world s most advanced ICT economy, followed by Northern Europe countries like Sweden (8.45), Iceland (8.36), Denmark (8.35) and Netherlands (8.00). e. Of the ten top-ranked countries, eight are from Europe (see Annex 2). The remaining two countries are from the Asia-Pacific region, with the Republic of Korea 1 st and Hong Kong (China) at the 10 th position. f. All countries in the IDI top 30 (see Annex 2) are from the high-income category, underlining the strong link between income and ICT progress. 2.2 ICT Prices ICT Price Basket (IBP) a. Regarding the ICT Price Basket (IPB), Macao (China) and Qatar lead the way with prices of 0.2 and 0.4 per cent of GNI respectively. b. The IPB for Mauritius has progressed to 1.2 in 2012 from 1.3 in 2011, (an improvement of 7.7 per cent), with a gain of 4 ranks, from 39 th to 35 th. The country continues to improve both on rank and score (44 th in 2010 and IPB of 1.5). c. Mauritius is still offering ICT services at the cheapest price (1.2) on the African continent, followed by Seychelles 1.5 with rank 45 th and Egypt 2.6 at 70 th place. (Refer to table 6) d. With an IPB of 1.2, Mauritius is ranked 4 th among the 49 countries of the upper middle income group. Russia (1.0), Venezuela (1.1) and Maldives (1.1) top the group for this category.(see table 7 at section 4.1.2) Fixed Broadband prices a. With regard to Fixed broadband prices, Macao (China) is ranked first with a price of 0.2 per cent of GNI in The price in terms of USD is $7.9 and $ 9.3 in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). 3

7 b. The average price for fixed broadband in terms of GNI per capita for the world has decreased from in 2008 to 22.1 in For the developing world the price (as a % of GNI p.c) was at 31.0 in 2012 compared to 1.7 for the developed world. c. The price of fixed broadband for Mauritius stood at 1.8 per cent of GNI and is ranked 49 th (same score for Seychelles but is ranked at 47 th ). The two countries are offering the most affordable price for fixed broadband on the African continent Mobile Broadband prices a. The table below summarises the average price for mobile broadband in terms of GNI per capita for each of the four mobile broadband plans Table 1: Mobile Broadband price as a % of GNI Mobile Broadband plans Price as a % of GNI per capita World Developed Developing Mauritius Post-paid Handset* based 500 Mb Prepaid Handset based 500 Mb Post-paid Computer** based 1 Gb Prepaid Computer based 1 Gb * - Accessing internet through mobile phones ** - Accessing internet through USB-modem/dongle b. With regard to mobile broadband prices, Austria is ranked first with a price of 0.1 per cent of GNI for all types of plans. The price in terms of USD is $5.6 and $ 4.7 in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) c. Mauritius had a score of 1.8 per cent of GNI p.c for all mobile broadband plans. It is ranked first in Africa for offering the cheapest tariff for mobile broadband computerbased plan (both prepaid and post-paid). 4

8 2.3 Digital Natives a. As far as digital natives (people aged with at least 5 years of experience using the Internet) is concerned, there were 363 million digital natives out of a world population of around 7 billion or equivalent to 5.2 per cent. b. Iceland has the highest proportion of digital natives in the world (13.9 per cent) which is 95.9 per cent of its total youth population. c. Mauritius has 93,100 digital natives in 2012, the highest percentage (7 per cent) in Africa and representing 42.3 per cent of the total youth population. d. Estonia which has a comparable population size to Mauritius has 11.8 per cent of digital natives (158,620) and representing 96.0 per cent of its total youth population. e. As per ITU s report 2013, Mauritius has a youth Internet user penetration of 74.0 per cent in 2012 out of a total Internet user penetration of 41.4 per cent. 5

9 3. The ICT Development Index 3.1 Definition The ICT Development Index measures the information society progress in countries around the world and is presented in ITU s Measuring the Information Society Report. The latest edition which has been released in October 2013 covers 157 Economies for the IDI. The main objectives of the IDI are to measure: 1. The level and evolution over time of the ICT developments in countries and in relative to other countries. 2. Progress in ICT development in both developed and developing countries: the index should be global and reflect changes taking place in countries at different levels of ICT development. 3. The digital divide, i.e. differences between countries with different level of ICT developments. 4. The development potential of ICTs or the extent to which countries can make use of ICTs to enhance growth and development, based on capabilities and skills. 3.2 The Methodology The IDI consists of 11 separate indicators, grouped in three clusters of Access, Use and Skills. The Access sub-index provides indication on ICT infrastructure readiness (based on 5 Indicators), the Use sub-index provides information on ICT usage intensity (based on 3 Indicators) and the Skills sub-index (based on 3 Indicators) which is a proxy one, gives the capacity necessary to use ICTs effectively. The ICT Access sub-index consists of five indicators: 1. Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 2. Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 3. International Internet Bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user 4. The proportion of households with a computer 5. The proportion of households with Internet access at home. 6

10 The ICT Use sub-index comprises three indicators: 1. Internet Users per 100 inhabitants 2. Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants 3. Mobile broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants. The ICT Skills sub-index includes three proxy indicators: 1. The adult literacy rate 2. The secondary gross enrolment ratio 3. The tertiary gross enrolment ratio. The Access and Use sub-indices were given equal weight (40 % each); whereas the Skills sub-index was given 20% as it is based on proxy indicators. 7

11 3.3 ICT Development Index (IDI), Table 2: ICT Development Index 2012 (for 30 selected Economies) Change in Country Index Rank Index Rank Value % Change Change in Ranks Korea Rep Sweden Iceland Denmark Netherlands United Kingdom Hong Kong, China Australia Japan Macao, China Singapore United States France Canada Estonia Israel Barbados United Arab Emirates Belarus Lebanon Oman Costa Rica Brazil Seychelles Mauritius China South Africa Egypt Tunisia India Source: ITU 8

12 Observations Global The top ten IDI countries are predominantly from Europe and from Asia and the Pacific. While the Republic of Korea, with the highest IDI value of 8.57, continues to lead the world in terms of ICT developments, the Nordic countries Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway follow closely. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Hong Kong (China) also rank in the top ten. A comparison with the 2011 ranking shows that there is hardly any change in terms of the countries with the highest ICT levels. Dynamic countries Although most countries in the ICT Development Index have not seen dramatic changes in their IDI value or rank within a year, there are some countries (termed as dynamic countries) which have experienced significant and noteworthy movements. For example the UAE, Lebanon, Barbados and Seychelles have progressed by 12, 9, 7, and 6 ranks respectively. According to the MIS Report 2013, the reasons underlying the improvement in IDI values and rankings in those dynamic countries are mainly linked to a higher level of competition and positive role of the private sector. In a number of cases, government-driven programmes or initiatives have helped to increase ICT access and use. Strong growth in the number of wireless- and fixed-broadband subscriptions has also enabled those countries to increase household ICT access and use, and to bring more people online. Mauritius Mauritius improved its IDI index; from 4.23 in 2011 to 4.55 in 2012 (an increase of 7.6%). The country has also improved on ranks, from 74 th in 2011, it has moved to 72 nd position in 2012, gaining 2 ranks. Mauritius gained nine places in the IDI use sub-index rankings, thanks especially to strong growth in the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions which increased by 73 per cent (from 13 per 100 inhabitants in 2011 to 22 per 100 inhabitants in 2012). Mauritius improved its scores for the Access, but lost 1 rank. The score and rank for the Skills sub-index remained the same over the period. (See section 3.5 for details) 9

13 It is to be noted that Seychelles has made considerable progress both on score and rank. It was ranked 64 th in 2012 from 70 th in 2011, a gain of 6 ranks, while its score has improved by 8.9%, to 4.75 in 2012 from 4.36 in The Upper middle income group As per the World Bank, the upper middle income group level includes countries with a GNI ranging from $ 4,086 to $ 12, 615 (see Annex 5). Mauritius has a GNI of $ 8,240, and the table below shows the positions of the country with respect to the IDI score within the upper middle income group level. The group includes a total of 49 countries and the table compares Mauritius for some selected nation only. The complete table can be found at Annex 6. Table 3: IDI within the Upper Middle income Rank Economy IDI Global IDI Rank GNI 1 Latvia ,350 2 Poland ,480 3 Russian Federation ,400 4 Belarus ,830 5 Lithuania ,280 6 Bulgaria ,550 9 Kazakhstan , Lebanon , Macedonia , Malaysia , Azerbaijan , Seychelles , Mauritius , Maldives , Mexico , South Africa , Botswana , Namibia , Cuba , Gabon ,980 The table shows that Mauritius is in the 25 th position when compared with countries falling in the same income category group, i.e. the upper middle income. Latvia and Poland are in the 1 st and 2 nd position with an IDI of 6.36 and 6.31 respectively. Kazakhstan and Malaysia 10

14 which have a GNI close to that of Mauritius are in 9 th and 16 th positions respectively. Seychelles which has a relatively higher GNI is found at the 21 st place within the upper middle income category. 3.5 IDI Group levels in 2012 The table below depicts the Average IDI score for the different group levels. Table 4: IDI by group levels IDI Group levels Group Number of Countries Average Value IDI 2012 Minimum Maximum High Upper Medium Low Total Source: ITU The 157 economies have been grouped into four categories of HIGH, UPPER, MEDIUM and LOW IDI s. The IDI for the Upper category ranged from 4.17 to This Upper group comprised 39 countries, including Mauritius. 11

15 3.6 Average Regional IDI levels Table 5: Average IDI levels by Region Average IDI's, 2011 and 2012 by Group of countries Group of Countries No. of Countries % Change Countries Topping list in Group 1 Africa Seychelles 2 Arab States Qatar 3 Asia & the Pacific Korea (Rep) Commonwealth of Independent States Russian Fed. 4 (CIS) Europe Sweden 6 Americas United States Total Korea (Rep) Source: ITU IDI Analysis: Africa The African regional IDI of 2.0 is by far the lowest of all regions. Seychelles and Mauritius are the top ranked countries in the Africa region. They are the only African countries with an IDI above the global average (4.35). Between 2011 and 2012, more African countries moved up than moved down the global rankings. Zambia and Zimbabwe improved in particular their mobile-cellular penetration. The strongest growth in international Internet bandwidth per Internet user was recorded in Kenya, where the figure shot up from just bit/s in 2011 to bit/s in In the Seychelles, international Internet bandwidth almost tripled with the landing of the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) fibre-optic cable. However, for some African countries international Internet bandwidth per Internet user has actually decreased, not because there was a reduction in the international bandwidth, but because the number of Internet users increased faster than the amount of bandwidth. (See Annex 1) 12

16 3.7 The 3 components of IDI for Mauritius, 2011 and 2012 Table 6: IDI sub-indices IDI Components Change Index Rank Index Rank Value % Rank Global Access sub-index Use sub-index Skills sub-index Source: ITU Although the ICT Access sub-index for Mauritius improved to 5.17 in 2012 from 4.91 in 2011 (representing a percentage rise of 5.3%), there was a loss of one rank (from the 70 th place in 2011 to 71 st place in 2012). It is to note that Kenya has made significant advances in its access sub-index, which rose from 2.35 in 2011 to 2.73 in This allowed the country to climb ten places in the access sub-index rankings. Within the access sub-index, international Internet bandwidth per Internet user increased substantially in 2012 and Kenya has become the country with the largest amount of international Internet bandwidth per Internet user in the Africa region. The ICT Use sub-index also improved, where Mauritius witnessed a significant increase of 0.57 in the value index to reach 2.69 in 2012 (27% increase). This increase has allowed the ICT Use sub-index to progress considerably in terms of ranks, moving up by 9 places (from 76 th in 2011 to 67 th in 2012). This is especially due to a strong growth in the number of wireless-broadband subscriptions. Wireless broadband penetration grew by 74 per cent, to reach 22 per 100 inhabitants in 2012 (from 13 per 100 inhabitants in 2011). The score (7.07) and rank (82 nd ) for the Skills sub-index have remained unchanged over the period A selected list of countries for each of the three IDI components is at Annex 2. 13

17 3.8 In-depth Analysis of IDI for Mauritius ICT access Table 7: Eleven indicators of IDI Rank Value Rank Value Gain/Loss in Ranks Fixed-telephone lines per 100 inhabitants Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user 85 14, ,714-5 Percentage of households with a computer Percentage of households with Internet access ICT use Percentage of individuals using the Internet Fixed (wired)-broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants ICT skills Adult literacy rate Secondary gross enrolment ratio Tertiary gross enrolment ratio Source: ITU Observations ICT Access Fixed-telephone lines per 100 inhabitants have continued to regress. Its value has decreased by 7.3%, losing 3 ranks. It is to note that it lost 3 ranks over the period However, the Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants has made considerable progress, from 87 th place in 2011 it has moved to 65 th place in 2012, gaining 22 ranks over the period. The indicator has surpassed the 100 percent to reach percent in International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user increased by 15% this year compared to a 38% increase over the period Although the value has improved this has not led to a gain in rank but has lost 5 ranks instead. This is due to the fact that a number of countries are achieving better scores than Mauritius. For example in Kenya, the international 14

18 Internet bandwidth per Internet user rose sharply by over five-fold in 2012 and has also made the country the bandwidth-richest in Africa. (See chart below) It has also been observed that for some countries the number of Internet users is increasing faster than the amount of bandwidth. This explains the slow progress in terms of international Internet bandwidth per Internet user. 15

19 Internet penetration in Households The percentage of households with Internet access in Mauritius stood at 42 per cent in 2012 compared to 36.4 per cent in Yet the country has lost one rank (65 th to 66 th ). The world average for Households with Internet access stood at 41.3 per cent in ICT Use The Percentage of individuals using the Internet improved by 18%, with a gain of 2 ranks. Fixed (wired) broadband Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants increased by only 8% compared to a 46% improvement over the previous period Active Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants improved by 72% and gained one rank ICT Skills All the three indicators pertaining to the skills sub-index were the same for most countries in terms of both values and ranks for the year 2011 and

20 4. Cost and Affordability of Broadband The Measuring the Information Society (MIS) report 2013, has in this year s edition included an analysis of both fixed-broadband and mobile broadband prices. Benchmarking global ICT prices does not only include an investigation on the ICT Price Basket (IBP) but the report has also engaged in a comprehensive review of the two broadband prices mentioned above ICT Price Basket (IPB) ITU s ICT Price Basket is a composite basket based on the price for fixed telephony, mobile cellular, fixed broadband internet services and is computed as a percentage of average income levels. The IPB monitors the cost of ICT services and determines how affordable they are. The IPB covers a total of 161 countries. Methodology The IPB is a composite basket that includes three tariff sets, referred to as sub-baskets. It comprises the Fixed telephone sub-basket, the Mobile Cellular sub-basket, and the Fixed Broadband Internet sub-basket. The ITU has computed the ICT Price basket based on these three sub-baskets The ICT Price Basket (IPB), Table 8: ICT Price Basket (IPB) 2012 Economy Rank 2012 Rank 2011 Improvement in Value Change in Rank Macao, China Qatar Singapore Luxembourg Norway UAE Korea (Rep.) France United Kingdom Mauritius Seychelles Belarus China Egypt India South Africa

21 The cheapest economies in terms of ICT price basket for both 2011 and 2012 remain Macao (China), Qatar, Singapore, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, with ratios of cost/income ranging from 0.2 to 0.5. Mauritius was ranked 39 th in 2011 at the level of 1.3, and has gained a further 4 places in 2012 to be ranked at 35 th with an improved ratio at 1.2. This makes the country offering one of the most affordable ICT prices in Africa compared to countries like Seychelles (45 th ), Egypt (70 th ), and South Africa (107 th ) IPB within the Upper middle income group The table below compares the ICT Price Basket with countries falling within the upper middle income group. This group includes 49 countries which has a GNI ranging from $ 4,086 to $ 12,615. Table 9: IBP for the upper middle income group Rank Economy IPB IPB Global rank GNI 1 Russian Federation Venezuela Maldives Mauritius Lithuania Latvia Costa Rica Kazakhstan Seychelles Belarus Malaysia Uruguay Poland Panama Azerbaijan With an IPB of 1.2, Mauritius is ranked 4 th among the 49 countries of the upper middle income group. Russia (1.0), Venezuela (1.1) tops the group for this category. Maldives which has a lower GNI per capita than Mauritius is ranked 3 rd in this group with an IPB 18

22 of 1.1. Some countries like Lithuania, Poland, and Seychelles have a relatively higher GNI per capita but their IPB are more expensive than Mauritius The 3 sets of tariff for IPB for Mauritius, 2011 and 2012 Table 10: IPB Tariff sets Tariff sets Rank 2012 Rank 2011 ICT Price Basket Fixed Telephone Mobile cellular Fixed Broadband Internet Source: ITU The price for Fixed Telephone sub-basket remained unchanged. The prices for Mobile Cellular and Fixed Broadband sub-baskets both witnessed improvements of 10% in The reduction in the two sets of tariff helped Mauritius to improve in rank from 39 th in 2011 to 35 th in A list of selected countries is at Annex 3 for comparison purposes regarding the ICT Price sub-baskets Fixed Broadband Prices (2012 data) Fixed broadband is considered as the primary means of accessing high-speed, high-capacity and reliable Internet services. The fixed-broadband price analysis includes 169 economies, and showing significant differences in the price and affordability of fixed-broadband subscriptions. 19

23 Rank Economy Table 11: Fixed Broadband Prices as % of GNI p.c. Fixed-broadband prices USD PPP$ GNI p.c., USD, 2011 (or latest available) 1 Macao, China '460 2 Kuwait '900 3 United States '450 4 Switzerland '380 5 Luxembourg ' Hong Kong, China ' Qatar ' Sweden ' Singapore ' Netherlands ' United Arab Emirates ' Korea (Rep.) ' Oman ' Seychelles ' Mauritius ' Tunisia ' Lebanon ' New Zealand ' Belarus ' Saudi Arabia ' Egypt ' Barbados ' South Africa ' India ' China ' Kenya Madagascar Cuba n/a 5460 The cost of fixed-broadband subscription ranges from 0.21 per cent of GNI p.c. in Macao (China) to per cent of GNI p.c. in Cuba. For most part of the least developed countries from Africa (such as Madagascar and Malawi) and some of the Asia-Pacific region (Afghanistan and Solomon Islands), fixed-broadband prices actually exceed the respective countries average monthly GNI p.c. However, in the majority of countries, including more than a third of all developing countries, prices are below 5 per cent of GNI p.c. There are nonetheless a large number of developing countries where fixed-broadband services are largely unaffordable: in 28 per cent of developing, prices are above 20 per cent of GNI p.c. 20

24 Table 12: Regional Fixed Broadband prices World average 22.1 Region Minimum Maximum Range Average value Europe CIS Arab states The Americas Asia & Pacific Africa Prices in Europe are the most affordable with an average of just 1.5 per cent of GNI p.c. The differences in affordability of fixed-broadband are also relatively small in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where prices range from 1.2 per cent of GNI p.c. Africa has the least affordable fixed-broadband prices in the world, with an average value of 64.3 per cent of GNI p.c. Within the region, prices range from 1.8 per cent of GNI p.c. in Seychelles and Mauritius to per cent of GNI p.c. in Niger. Countries with relatively low prices in terms of PPP$ include Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles and South Africa, where prices remain below PPP$ 40. (See table below) Global Rank Regional Rank Table 13: Africa Fixed Broadband Prices Economy Fixed-broadband prices as % of GNI p.c. USD PPP$ GNI p.c., USD, 2011 (or latest available) 47 1 Seychelles ' Mauritius ' Gabon ' South Africa ' Botswana ' Cape Verde '540 21

25 Global Rank Regional Rank Economy Fixed-broadband prices as % of GNI p.c. USD PPP$ GNI p.c., USD, 2011 (or latest available) Angola ' Namibia ' Swaziland ' Uganda Ghana ' Nigeria ' Tanzania Senegal ' Cote d'ivoire ' Kenya

26 4.3. Mobile Broadband Prices for Mauritius (2012 data) Mobile-broadband services may be accessed through a computer-based connection, using a USB-modem/dongle to connect to the mobile-broadband network, or through handset-based connection. The table below shows the ranking for Mauritius for all four mobile-broadband plans: prepaid handset-based, post-paid handset-based, prepaid computer-based and post-paid computerbased. Mobile broadband plans Table 14: Mobile Broadband Prices for Mauritius as % of GNI p.c. Value USD PPP$ Rank Total countries assessed Prepaid handset-based prices (500 MB) Postpaid handset-based prices (500 MB) Prepaid Computer-based prices (1 GB) Postpaid Computer-based prices (1 GB) The mobile broadband prices are presented in USD, in PPP$ and calculated as a percentage of GNI p.c. Countries are ranked according to the price of mobile broadband as a percentage of GNI p.c. The lower the percentage, the lower the relative cost of the service. The table shows the score for Mauritius for each of the different mobile broadband plans. The mobile broadband price for the country in terms of percentage of GNI per capita, US dollars and Purchase Power Parity (PPP $) was 1.8%, 12.2 $ and 20.1 $ respectively for all mobile broadband plans. However, the rank was different for each plan. The most notable position for Mauritius was for the Prepaid Computer-based prices where the country was ranked 32 nd among 124 countries. Annex 4 benchmarks Mauritius with some selected countries for each of the four different mobile broadband plans. 23

27 5. Measuring digital natives Digital natives is referred as a population of young people who were born into the digital age and are growing up using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their daily lives. Policy-makers all around the world are paying increasing attention to digital natives, not only because of the possibilities that ICTs open up for young people all around the world, but also on account of the role that young people play in shaping and driving the information society. The MIS Report 2013 has made a first attempt to measure the world s digital native population. According to the report, in 2012 there were around 363 million digital natives out of a world population of around 7 billion or equivalent to 5.2 per cent. Given the above definition and assumption, thus the number of digital natives in a country in 2012 is equal to the number of Internet users aged in the year The table below shows Iceland with the highest proportion (13.9 per cent) of digital natives among its population, claims the highest Internet user penetration rates worldwide at 96.0 (see Annex 5) per cent in New Zealand also stands out among the high-income countries, in second position with 13.6 per cent of its population qualifying as digital natives. Estonia which has a population size comparable to Mauritius has a proportion of 11.8 per cent of digital natives and Youth Internet user penetration of 99.2 per cent (see Annex 5). Estonia has also been singled out for its achievements in terms of making superfast broadband available in homes. According to the MIS Report 2013, the country has made great progress in achieving one of the EU s most ambitious targets, namely to make sure that 100 per cent of households can get very high-speed broadband Internet access by The penetration of Internet users (79 per cent) and fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions (26 per cent) continue to rise at very high rates. Most impressive are the developments in regard to wireless broadband: penetration went up from 46 per cent in 2011 to 74 per cent in 2012, 24

28 one of the highest penetration levels worldwide, and Estonians are ardent users of e- and m- services. Rank Economy Table 15: Digital Natives for selected countries Digital Natives (total) (15-24 yrs.) DN as a % of total youth popn. DN as a % of total popn. 1 Iceland 45' New Zealand 606' Korea (Rep.) 6'552' Malaysia 3'914' Lithuania 436' United States 41,322, Barbados 35' Singapore 643' Finland 645' Netherlands 1'993' Estonia Hong Kong, China 833' Switzerland 862' United Kingdom 6'992' Austria 886' Saudi Arabia 2'988' Japan 12'200' Kuwait 234, United Arab Emirates 635' Lebanon 306' Mauritius 92' Egypt 5'532' Tunisia 700' Zimbabwe 796, China 75,210, Belarus 527' Qatar 93' Oman 126, Kenya 1'596' South Africa 1'848' India 22,660,

29 Mauritius has the highest percentage (7 per cent) of digital natives and representing 42.3 per cent of the total youth population and is ranked first in Africa. Second in the region is Zimbabwe, where 6.1 per cent of the population are digital natives in It is to note that the latter has the world s second highest share of young people aged 15-24, at 24.5 per cent. 6. The Global trend 1. Growth in mobile-cellular penetration is flattening, reaching 96 per cent by end 2013, mobile broadband continues to grow strongly, on average by around 40 per cent annually between 2010 and While both fixed- and mobile-broadband speeds continue to increase, the price of services is falling and ICTs are becoming more affordable: in the space of four years, fixedbroadband prices have dropped by an impressive 82 per cent. 3. Globally, mobile-broadband prices, like fixed broadband prices, are on average relatively high, with only the post-paid handset-based plans representing less than 10 per cent of GNI p.c. 4. ICT Prices are very affordable in the developed world, while services are much less affordable in the developing world. In developed countries, all four plans (500 MB prepaid and post-paid handset-based and 1 GB prepaid and post-paid computer-based) represent between 1 and 2 per cent of GNI p.c. In developing countries, average prices range from just over 11 per cent of GNI p.c. (for 500 MB post-paid handset-based plans) to almost 25 per cent of GNI p.c. (for 1 GB prepaid computer-based plans). 5. Prepaid computer-based plans are the most expensive compared with all other plans, in both developing and developed countries. 6. Young people all over the world are the most active users of ICTs. A model has been developed to estimate the number of digital natives - the young people with solid ICT experience. While 30 per cent of the youth population are digital natives today, the report shows that within the next five years, the digital native population in the developing world is expected to double. 26

30 ANNEXES 27

31 Annex 1: The IDI Framework 2012 (Components of IDI) Access Use Skills Telephone Lines per 100 inhab Mobile per 100 Inhab Internet bandwidth per Internet user Proportion of Household with Computer Proportion of Household with Internet Internet Users per 100 Inhab Fixed Broadband per 100 Inhab Mobile Broadband per 100 Inhab Enrolment Secondary Enrolment Tertiary Adult Literacy Rate Economy Australia Austria Bahrain Barbados Belarus Brazil Canada China Costa Rica Denmark Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong, China Iceland India

32 Access Use Skills Telephone Lines per 100 inhab Mobile per 100 Inhab Internet bandwidth per Internet user Proportion of Household with Computer Proportion of Household with Internet Internet Users per 100 Inhab Fixed Broadband per 100 Inhab Mobile Broadband per 100 Inhab Enrolment Secondary Enrolment Tertiary Adult Literacy Rate Economy Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kenya Korea (Rep.) Lebanon Luxembourg Macao, China Madagascar Malaysia Maldives Mauritius Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Norway Oman Qatar Russian Fed Saudi Arabia Seychelles

33 Access Use Skills Telephone Lines per 100 inhab Mobile per 100 Inhab Internet bandwidth per Internet user Proportion of Household with Computer Proportion of Household with Internet Internet Users per 100 Inhab Fixed Broadband per 100 Inhab Mobile Broadband per 100 Inhab Enrolment Secondary Enrolment Tertiary Adult Literacy Rate Economy Singapore Slovenia South Africa Sweden Switzerland Tunisia Ukraine United A Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay

34 Annex 2: Benchmarking components of IDI ICT Access S.N0 Economy Rank Access Rank Access Value % Change Change Change in rank 1 Hong Kong, China Luxembourg Iceland Switzerland United Kingdom Singapore Korea (Rep.) France Canada United States Saudi Arabia Belarus Seychelles Panama Mauritius Egypt South Africa Tunisia India Madagascar

35 ICT Use S.N0. Economy Rank Use Rank Use Value % Change Change Change in rank 1 Sweden Korea (Rep.) Denmark Japan Singapore United Kingdom United States Hong Kong, China France Estonia Canada Israel United Arab Emirates Barbados Belarus Oman Lebanon Costa Rica Mauritius Seychelles Egypt South Africa Tunisia Kenya

36 ICT Skills S.No. Economy Rank Skills Korea (Rep.) Finland United States Greece Belarus Canada Barbados Japan United Kingdom France Costa Rica Turkey Oman Singapore United Arab Emirates Mauritius Tunisia South Africa Seychelles Egypt* India Madagascar

37 Annex 3: ICT Price Basket Framework IPB Fixed-telephone sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita Mobile-cellular sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita Fixedbroadband sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita GNI per capita Rank Economy (or latest available) 1 Macao, China '460 2 Qatar '440 3 Hong Kong, China '160 4 Singapore '930 5 Luxembourg '130 7 United A Emirates '760 8 United States ' Sweden ' Switzerland ' Finland ' Austria ' Japan ' Korea (Rep.) ' Germany ' Iceland ' Netherlands ' France ' Canada ' Russian Fed ' Oman ' Australia ' Maldives ' United Kingdom ' Bahrain ' Mauritius ' Costa Rica ' Israel ' Seychelles ' Belarus ' Saudi Arabia '820 34

38 IPB Fixed-telephone sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita Mobile-cellular sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita Fixedbroadband sub-basket as a % of GNI per capita GNI per capita Rank Economy (or latest available) 53 Malaysia ' Lebanon ' New Zealand ' Tunisia ' China ' Egypt ' Barbados ' India ' Brazil ' Indonesia ' South Africa ' Kenya Madagascar 57.9 N/A 24.6 N/A 49.3 N/A N/A