Oct 07, 2013 02:54 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Cheaper and more plentiful mobile plans are helping to increase the reach of Internet access across the world. By 2013, around 40 percent of the planet will have online access, according to a United Nations report released Monday.

Another report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates the proliferation of 6.8 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions by the end of 2013, according to the U.N.

Mobile plans, on average, are less expensive than fixed broadband, making them the preferred path to Internet connectivity. Over the last four years, the costs of such plans have fallen by 82 percent across 160 countries, according to the U.N.

Also in the ITU's report were its annual rankings of internet access by country, as per the United Nations. For the third consecutive year, The Republic of Korea (ROK) led, followed by Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The United States was 11^th.

"This year's IDI figures show much reason for optimism, with governments clearly prioritizing ICTs as a major lever of socio-economic growth, resulting in better access and lower prices," ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said.

The difference between "high access" countries and "low access" countries persist. According to the ITU report, about one third of the world's population lives in "low access" regions. Those areas may stand the most to gain from greater access.

 "Our most pressing challenge is to identify ways to enable those countries which are still struggling to connect their populations to deploy the networks and services that will help lift them out of poverty," Touré said.

The ITU added a new group to its data collection known, perhaps misleadingly, as "digital naives", or those ages 15-24 with five or more years of Intenet access - a group it believes integral to continuing the spread of internet access. In developed countries, 86 percent of those in this age group are "digital naives"; in developing countries, that number is only around 50 percent.

"Young people are the most enthusiastic adopters and users of ICTs," said Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. "They are the ones who will shape the direction of our industry in the coming decades, and their voice needs to be heard," 

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