The New York Times has published an editorial today discussing the power of mobile broadband around the world. As the Times piece notes, the world’s population is set to reach 6.7 billion people this year, an astonishing number nonetheless surpassed by the accompanying statistic that this year will also see the world’s number of cellphone subscriptions hit 5 billion. From the article:

Another revolution is following close on the heels of the cellphone revolution. This year, the number of mobile broadband subscribers — people who access the Internet via laptops or mobile phones — is forecast to pass one billion, up from 600 million at the end of 2009. That number will almost surely skyrocket, too — and the developed world should be doing everything it can to encourage it. That means increasing the reach and lowering the cost of broadband and pressing for political and commercial openness across the Internet. Mobile communication and access to digital information are powerful development tools and aids to self-sufficiency. And we, in turn, have a lot to learn from the innovative way those tools are being used around the world.