The
World Economic Forum (WEF) report titled 'Global diffusion
of ICT,' excerpts of which are carried in MAIT's newsletter
of January 2004, is an objective record of the spread
of info-communication technology (ICT) throughout the
developing and developed world. Significantly the report
has lauded China's progress in this sector.
According
to the report, the growth of cellular mobile telephone
subscribers and the increase in the number of internet
users has been the highest in the last three years.
The
report adds that of the 6.2 billion people in the world,
1 in every 5 people is a cellular mobile subscriber, against
only 1 in every 12 people three years ago. Also in the
same period cellular mobile telephone subscribers grew
by 134 per cent against the number of telephone landlines
which grew by merely 21 per cent.
This
means globally 662 million new subscribers started using
cellular mobile telephones while only 192 million people
acquired new telephone landlines. With these new users,
the number of cellular mobile subscribers at 1.15 billion
outstripped the 1.10 billion landlines in operation
Surprisingly,
a large proportion of the improvement in ICT diffusion
came from among the most populous countries of the world
China and India rather than the developed
west..
In
the three year period 1999-2002, lead with not only the
highest increase in the number of landlines but also cellular
mobile subscribers, television receivers and cable television
subscribers. China also had the second highest increase
in the number of Internet users and the fifth highest
increase in the number of personal computers.
While
China added 106 million landlines, India, followed in
the second place with 15 million. Likewise, China added
163 million cellular mobile telephone subscribers, while
the United States followed with 55 million. Similarly,
China had 36 million new cable television while Japan,
with the second highest increase, added 6 million subscribers,
one sixth of China's figure.
In
terms of internet users the number has risen exponentially
(119 per cent) over the last few years. Since 1999, the
world has added 329 million more internet users, bringing
the estimated number of global internet users to 605 million
in 2002. This means that 10 per cent or 1 person in every
10 in the world is an internet user. According to the
report, the total number of internet users in the world
exceed the number of personal computers.
In
2002, there were 550 million personal computers in the
world, up 40 per cent from around 400 million in 1999.
Of the developed and most populous economies of the world,
the United States, Japan, and Germany posted the highest
increases in ownership of personal computers.
The
United States, the third most populous country in the
world, added the highest number of Internet users and
personal computers at 53 million and 37 million respectively.
Japan, the ninth most populous country, had the third
highest increase in the number of internet users and personal
computers, while Germany, the 12th most populous country
in the world, posted the third highest increase in cellular
mobile telephone subscribers, the fourth highest increase
in Internet users, personal computers, cable television
subscribers, and home satellite antennas and the fifth
highest increase in main telephone lines in operation.
The
report says that in internet penetration, Iceland takes
the lead with 61 per cent of its population having internet
access followed by Liechtenstein, Sweden, and Republic
of Korea with internet penetration rates of 58 per cent,
57 per cent, and 55 per cent of the population, respectively.
Singapore,
with an internet penetration of 54 per cent of its population,
stands out as having the highest household internet penetration.
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