The percentage of the global population that remains unconnected to the internet is set to drop from 42 per cent to 30 per cent, according to market research firm Omdia.

However, 30 per cent of the world population will only be accessing the internet via a mobile device by 2026 according to the firm, and only 40 per cent will have fixed broadband at home.

The firm’s index tracked and benchmarked fibre development across 81 countries.

This included fibre coverage, household penetration, business penetration, mobile cell site fibre penetration, fibre backbone investment, and overall average download and upload speed in addition to fibre household coverage and household penetration.

Omdia said that Singapore led its fibre development index, with maximum scores in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration, mobile-station fibre penetration, fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage, and both download and upload speeds.

The firm said that Singapore was closely followed by South Korea, the UAE, Qatar, and China in its rankings, the last of which it said was the fastest developing of the top-ranking nations.

Omdia said all the countries in the top five benefit from strong national broadband plans with ambitious targets around ultra-high-speed services, backed by generous government grants or subsidies.

Chile and Brazil saw the biggest jumps in their position on Omdia’s list, climbing 11 and 7 places, respectively.

The market research firm attributed this to significant increases in the countries FTTP coverage and FTTH penetration figures, which it said have in led to improvements in average downlink and uplink speeds.

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