The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released this week its “Measuring the Information Society 2018 – Volume 1” report in which it provides a glimpse on the state of information & communication technology (ICT) across the globe by end of 2017. The report features price, revenue, and investment trends in the ICT sector in over 181 countries, in addition to a snapshot on the required ICT skills for the future. In figures, the United States registered the highest telecommunication revenues ($614.35 billion) and mobile revenues ($255.41 billion) in the world in the year 2016, followed by China (total telecommunication revenues: $181.00 billion; mobile revenues: $129.55 billion) and Japan (total telecommunication revenues: $156.93 billion; mobile revenues: $66.23 billion). Concurrently, Monaco topped the ITU’s list in the average revenue per user (ARPU) from mobile subscriptions, which stood at $139.3 per subscription/month in 2016, followed by Kuwait ($134.3 per subscription/month) and Andorra ($61.8 per subscription/month). From another standpoint, Macao, China emerged as the country with the cheapest mobile-cellular basket price per month relative to its monthly gross national income per capita (GNI p.c.) among all covered countries, which stood at just 0.10% (equivalent to $5.65 per month) in 2017, followed by Hong Kong, China (0.15%; equivalent to $5.73 per month) and Singapore (0.17%; equivalent to $7.92 per month). Similarly, Macao, China appeared to have the most affordable mobile-broadband basket (prepaid handset-based) for 500 MB per month (0.07% of GNI p.c.; equivalent to $3.61), followed by Poland (0.12% of GNI p.c.; equivalent to $1.32) and Sweden (0.13% of GNI p.c.; equivalent to $5.73).

On a local basis, the report unveiled that total telecommunication revenues in Lebanon rose from around $3.04 billion in 2014 to nearly $3.16 billion in 2015 before dropping to $3.14 billion in 2016. More particularly, mobile revenues increased from circa $1.62 billion in 2014 to just over $1.68 billion in 2015, yet fell to $1.67 billion in 2016. The report further revealed that the average revenue per user (ARPU) from mobile subscriptions in Lebanon followed a downward trajectory during the 2014 – 2016 period, slipping from $30.7 per subscription/month to $30.1 per subscription/month then $28.5 per subscription/month. More recently, the ITU positioned Lebanon 98^th in the world in the monthly price of a mobile-cellular basket relative to its monthly GNI p.c., which stood at 2.32% (equivalent to $16.07) in the year 2017. Concurrently, Lebanon ranked 92^nd in the world in the affordability of a mobile-broadband basket (prepaid handset-based) for 500 MB (1.44% of GNI p.c.; equivalent to $10.00 per month) and came in 107^th in the affordability of a mobile-broadband basket (postpaid computer-based) for 1 GB (3.02% of GNI p.c.; equivalent to $20.90 per month) in 2017. In the same vein, the report placed Lebanon 74^th internationally in the price of a fixed broadband basket relative to its GNI p.c. (2.30%; equivalent to $15.92 per month), as further detailed in the table below: