Taiwan's digital opportunity ranks 10th among 180 economies around the world and fourth in Asia, according the 2006 World Information Society Report released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The report, reaching here on Thursday from Taipei, indicated that Taiwan ranks behind South Korea, Japan, Denmark, Iceland and some other economies in the global digital opportunity.

The ranking is based on the Digital Opportunity Index that evaluates the digital opportunity, infrastructure and utilization of the target economies.

In Taiwan, subscribers of 3G mobile phone, mobile Internet and mobile phone services total 22.8 million, which is the 16th highest in the world, the report said.

The Chinese mainland tops the list with 334.8 million subscribers, and the second place goes to the United States with 181.1 million subscribers, according to the report.

While Taiwan's ratings in terms of opportunity and infrastructure are similar to those of South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, its rating on utilization lags far behind South Korea, the report indicates.

The report noted that South Korea and Japan have maintained their lead in digital opportunity because both economies have been actively developing their broadband Internet and 3G mobile services.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's leading Chunghwa Telecom ranks fourth on a list of 15 telecommunication companies charging the cheapest broadband Internet access fees in the world, according to the report.

The report said the costs of information communication technology clearly declined between 2003 and 2005, with the costs of mobile phone services falling 23 percent, Internet services 25 percent and broadband Internet services 40 percent.

Source: Xinhua