The United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Monday said the number of Internet users will reach three billion by the end of the year.

The report projects that approximately 67% of future Internet users will be originating from the developing world.

Mobile broadband subscriptions are projected to increase to over 2.3 billion, accounting for nearly 32% of Internet users, more than half of whom are in the developing world.

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Africa will see the biggest change, having gone from 2% of mobile broadband users four years ago to almost 20% today.

While Europe will remain the highest Internet-access per capita with 75% of the population having ready access to an Internet connection, the Asia-Pacific region will dominate the sheer amount of Internet users worldwide. Meanwhile, Africa is projected to increase their Internet penetration rate to one fifth of its population and two thirds in the Americas.

For mobile-cellular, subscriptions are expected to reach 7 billion by the end of the year with 75% of users being from developing countries.

Director of ITU's Telecom Development Bureau, Brahlma Sanou, called these numbers a "watershed moment" in the history of information and communications technology.

He said the projected statistics are evidence of genuine improvement in the quality of life of people throughout the world brought about by new technology.

The increase in Internet usage is bolstered by ambitious undertakings such as Google's Project Loon, which is intended to deliver 10 Mbps connections in even the most remote areas of the world.

This is done by using a vast network of solar-powered balloons spaced 100 miles apart, and floating at an altitude of 60,000 feet above sea level. Testing is currently under way in New Zealand and California but is expected to also incorporate Australia, Chile and Argentina soon.

The ITU was first established in 1865 to manage the first international telegraph networks. The organization became formally a part of the United Nations in 1949 and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland. The ITU is widely regarded as the world's most reliable source of global data on the industry and they is consulted regularly by inter-governmental agencies, private analysts and financial institutions.

TagsMobile broadband, UN, ITU, 3 billion, Developing nations, Project Loon, telecommunications, phone, Global, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Americas