It's not hard to see where the Internet has made a huge difference in all our lives. The rapid dissemination of news, the increase in entertainment sources, and replacements or potential replacements for a variety of industries ranging from the daily newspaper to the football field are all made possible thanks to the Internet. But the Internet requires new users to keep expanding, and thankfully, based on new reports from the 2014 State of Broadband report, we'll get those new users and then some, with over half of the global populace being able to access the Internet in the next three years.

The report was released at the 10^th meeting of the Broadband Commission of Digital Development, and reveals that we didn't have that far to go before hitting that 50 percent figure. Currently, better than 40 percent of the world population is online, and that number is set for a fairly significant hike in the short term, going from 2.3 billion at the end of 2013 to 2.9 billion by the end of 2014. Mobile broadband, meanwhile, will see even more impressive gains, reaching 2.3 billion users by the end of 2014, but by 2019, that number is reportedly set to hit a staggering 7.6 billion. There are, at last report over three times the number of mobile broadband connections than there are fixed broadband connections, and broadband-enabled social media applications are likewise on the rise.

Further, the report offered some information by region as well, noting that the Republic of Korea has the highest amount of broadband penetration, with 98 percent of households—up from last year's score of 97 percent—able to access some breed of broadband. Monaco, however, leads the world in fixed broadband, with 44 percent of the population getting in on the action. That beats last year's champion, Switzerland, by a narrow margin and brings the number of economies where fixed broadband penetration exceeds 40 percent to four, including Denmark and the Netherlands. The United States, meanwhile, is number 19 globally, on par with nations like Germany at 20, Australia at 21 and Canada at 16. However, the United States is down in fixed broadband, going from number 20 to number 24.

Irina Bokova, who serves as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s director-general, offered some commentary on the issue, saying “Providing Internet connectivity to everyone, everywhere, will take determined policy leadership and investment. As we focus on infrastructure and access, we must also promote the rights skills and diversity of content, to allow women and men to participate in building and participating in knowledge societies. As the new State of Broadband report shows, ICTs are making a significant contribution to social development, economic development and environmental protection, the three pillars that will underpin the post-2015 international development agenda and move us towards a more sustainable world.”

Internet access is becoming increasingly important to everything from economic development to education, and as more of the world comes online, the importance of online tools will only increase. This will put further demand on already heavily-burdened networks, and advances issues like net neutrality, currently being frantically debated within the FCC (News - Alert) as public outcry builds to record-breaking levels.

Only time will tell what the ultimate outcome is here, but it's clear that more of the world is getting online, and as the user count rises, the more appealing a market it will be, driving more firms away from the real world and into the online world.