Six in ten people around the world now have mobile phone subscriptions, signaling that mobiles are the communications technology of choice particularly in poor countries, according to a U.N. report.
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By the end of last year there were an estimated 4.1 billion subscriptions globally, compared with about 1 billion in 2002, the International Telecommunication Union said.

Internet use more than doubled. An estimated 23 per cent of people on the planet used the net last year, up from 11 per cent in 2002. Poor countries still lag far behind on internet access, with only 1 in 20 people in Africa going online in 2007 - the most recent year for which firm figures were available.

The so-called 'digital divide' between rich and poor countries remained unchanged between 2002 and 2007.

"Despite significant improvements in the developing world, the gap between the ICT haves and have-notes remains," the report found.