The number of mobile phone subscribers will touch a staggering 5 billion worldwide this year from 2.2 billion in 2006, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
"African information and communication technologies industry is an exciting place to be. Market liberalization continues and most countries have established regulatory bodies to ensure a fair, competitive and enabling environment, Hamadoun Tour, secretary-general of the ITU said on Monday. The secretary-general was speaking at the opening of a major trade fair "ITU Telecom Africa" in Cairo inaugurated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Four in five people across 26 countries of the world, including India, believe that access to the Internet is a fundamental right, according to a recent poll