Developing Countries Surge in Mobile Broadband, U.N. Finds TOKYO - Why are smartphone makers paying so much attention to developing countries? That is where the growth, and the potential for more of it, is concentrated. A new report from the United Nations Broadband Commission demonstrates this in considerable detail. By the end of this year, the report says, the number of mobile broadband connections worldwide will rise to 2.1 billion, nearly three times the total of fixed-line subscriptions. That may be just a start. In China, for example, there were still only 17 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2012, according to the report. But Internet use is surging there and smartphone providers are proliferating. Two other Asian countries, Singapore and Japan, were in the lead in per-capita mobile broadband use, with 123 and 113 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants - meaning that some people have more than one Internet-connected mobile device. Strikingly, some developing countries like Oman and Kazakhstan ranked ahead of wealthy nations like Switzerland and Germany in mobile broadband penetration. The mobile Internet has enabled some developing countries to leapfrog ahead, letting telecommunications companies and consumers skip over fixed-line broadband. "The marriage of mobile with modern-day Internet via mobile broadband is opening up new vistas of opportunity - mobile broadband may well "bridge the gap" between the connected and the unconnected,"" the report, which was published this week, says. The gains are uneven, though. In much of Africa and parts of Latin America, mobile broadband penetration is still in the single digits per 100 inhabitants. The goals of the U.N. Broadband Commission include closing the digital divide. Over all, including fixed-line and mobile connections, the number of broadband users in developing countries is set to exceed the number in wealthy countries this year, the report says. In fixed-line broadband connections, Europe does best, with nine of the top 10 countries. They are led by Switzerland, with 41.9 subscriptions per 100 residents in 2012. In Internet use, too, Europe is in the lead, with eight of the top 10 places; Iceland ranks first, with 96 percent of the population using the Internet. The United States is not a standout performer by either of these measures, ranking 20th in fixed-line broadband penetration and 24th in Internet use. It does better in wireless broadband connections, where it ranks ninth.