The chart illustrates how many people used five different means of communication worldwide between 1998 and 2008.
Overall, there was an increase in the number of users of all five communication services, with cellular phone service enjoying the most considerable growth to become by far the most used from 2005 onwards.
The number of subscribers to landline service started at 15 million, after which it experienced a gradual rise to 20 million in 2006, before ending the period at about 19 million. Similar, not until the year 2002 did people start using fixed broadband and mobile broachband, and the figures for these two services increased slightly, reaching 4 million in the final year.
5 million people subscribed to cellular phone service in 1998, with a gradual growth to roughly 18 million in 4 years later, and a final substantial growth to just over 65 million at the end of the period. Similar changes, but to a lesser extent, can be seen in the figures for internet service, which increased from just under 5 million in 1998 to exactly 20 million in 2006, followed by a final levelling off towards the end of the period.