The chart illustrates the number of people using five types of global communication services during a period of 10 years from 1998.
Overall, cellular phone service witnessed a dramatic increase and became the most widely used form of communication by 2008, while landline service saw only a modest rise. Other services such as internet, fixed broadband, and mobile broadband also experienced growth, though at a slower pace.
As can be seen from the chart,in 1998, the number of users of landline service was the highest with 15% of the population and the figure for cellular phone service was only around 5%. From 1998 to 2002, cellular phone service saw a significant increase and kept up with landline service at nearly 20% of the population. In general, while the number of people using cellular phone service escalated dramatically and reached a peak of 70% in 2008, the figure for landline service still remained unchanged at 20%.
Looking at the chart in more detail, starting at 5% in 1998, the number of people who used internet service saw a steady increase from 1998 to 2004, then increased considerably to over 20% and gained the second position in the world in 2008. Moreover, during a period 4-year from 1998, mobile broadband and fixed broadband stable unchanged at 0% of people using. After that, both broadband services experienced a moderate rise to 5% in 2008.