GENEVA, October 24 (Reuters) – Developing countries risk missing out on the benefits of information technology because of their lack of broadband infrastructure, a UN agency said.

Lack of broadband Internet access deprives countries of the possibility of building up offshoring industries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report late on Thursday.

It also prevents people from tapping into all the advantages of mobile phones, whose use is exploding in poor countries.

''The narrowing of the digital divide remains a key development challenge,'' UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Petko Draganov said.

''What is known as the broadband gap for example is becoming a serious handicap for companies in many poor countries,'' he told a briefing to launch UNCTAD's Information Economy Report.

Companies and consumers are 200 times more likely to have access to broadband in developed countries than in the poorest Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the report shows.

And the cost of broadband access varies widely -- over $1,300 a month in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Swaziland against less than $13 in Egypt or Tunisia.