Does your business depend on telecommunications technology? Are you reaching all potential markets worldwide? Do you need telecommunications statistics to form or support your decision making?
The Web site maintained by the 135-year-old International Telecommunication Union might be a good source to start your research. The ITU is an organization within the United Nations where governments around the world and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. The ITU Web site provides international telecommunications statistics.
Historical statistics are listed by country, region, and gender, and by operator or company. Statistics include telephone lines, mobile phone subscribers, Internet hosts, and PC users, all listed by country. Global statistics are available for telecom market revenue and telecom services revenue.
Also included is a table of the top economies by broadband penetration, and by subscribers and households. As a convenience, some basic country indicators are included, such as population, population density, GDP, and number of telephone subscribers.
A table showing country-by-country status of UMTS-2000 (Universal Mobile Telephone System), which covers 3G (third generation) mobile licensing in Europe, provides up-to-date information on awards to telecom companies with date and amount of each award.
The data are timely (usually 2002) and some go as far back as 1980. Many are in .pdf format, which makes downloading or printing easy.
The ITU Web site is also a source of information on the activities of the organization regarding mobile telephone and telecommunications activities worldwide. The ITU publishes extensive online and printed publications available for purchase.