According to new research, the number of people who will have access to the web will pass the three billion mark over the next year.
This, independent research firm eMarketer claims, will mean that 42.4% of the global population will be online. The new figures will constitute an increase of 6.2%, which could prove to be a boost to website marketing companies and online news providers.
It was identified that a lot of this growth would come from emerging markets, with Monica Peart, eMarketer’s senior forecasting analyst, stating that many of the world’s developed nations were already saturated with Internet users.
This online growth in the emerging markets, such as Indonesia and India, is said to be fuelled by the availability of cheaper web-capable devices, especially mobile phones. Peart added that as fixed web connections have been hard to install in some countries due to various reasons, including a lack of proper infrastructure and the expense involved, mobile broadband had definitely helped to open up the web to a wider market.
Some companies are already trying to cater to this market by making it easier for remote areas of the world to stay connected. This includes Google, with its Loon project aiming to deliver broadband access via a network of high-floating balloons.
The balloons have been designed to operate in very low temperatures at high altitude, as well as to stay airborne for a significant amount of time while providing fast Internet speeds. Trials have taken place, including over the BRIC nation of Brazil, with plans for permanent launches in 2015.
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