RAMALLAH, May 17, 2017 (WAFA) - The number of mobile phone subscribers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached 3.6 million of the total Palestinian population of five million, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said on Wednesday in a joint press release.

While the percentage of geographical coverage by mobile phone network is about 98%, the number of ADSL subscribers reached more than 320,000 in 2016, said the press release marking International Day for Society of Information. Number of fixed telephone lines in Palestine reached 432,000 in 2016.

Of the individuals who own a mobile phone, about a quarter own a Smartphone.

The percentage of households in Palestine with a smartphone is 52.1% in 2015 (60.7% in the West Bank and 35.7% in Gaza Strip), an increase of 2.0% compared with the year 2014.

The percentage of internet users has increased for both sexes to 57.4% in 2015 based on the International Telecommunication Union estimates, with an increase of 6% compared with the year 2014. The number of users of social media reached 1,250,000 by two hours use per day.

M.K.