China to overtake US in Internet population size within 2 yrs

[GoldGab]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0701250314.htm

China to overtake US in Internet population size within 2 yrs

Beijing, Jan 25. (PTI): The number of netizens in China soared to 23.4 per cent in 2006 to touch 137 million and is expected to overtake the United States in Internet population size within two years.

The number of Internet users rose to 137 million last year, up 23.4 per cent to comprise 10.5 per cent of the country's population of 1.3 billion, the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) said in a report.

"We believe it will take two years at most for China to overtake the United States," an official with CNNIC, Wang Enhai was quoted as saying by `China Daily'.

However, that could be a bullish prediction. The United States now has about 210 million Internet users, according to industry estimates. A research report by JP Morgan earlier this month forecast China's Internet population could hit 190 million by 2010, the paper said.

The growth in China's Internet population showed some signs of tapering off since a peak of 75.4 percent in 2002. In 2004 and 2005, the rate was 18.2 per cent and 18.1 per cent.

"The growth is now gaining much momentum. We are expecting even faster growth in 2007 and 2008 given that Internet penetration now has exceeded 10.5 percent in the country," Wang said.

The statistics were based on telephone sample surveys of 32,325 Chinese, and only those above the age of six and use the Internet for at least one hour a week on average were counted as Internet users, it said.

Online services like e-mail, search engines, e-commerce, blogs, online news and games saw rapid development, while new technologies had brought new opportunities for the development of the Internet.

Broadband users exceeded 100 million for the first time to reach 104 million, or 75.9 per cent of all Internet users.

Another 17 million Chinese went online via mobile phones, accounting for 12.4 per cent of the Internet population.

Director of CNNIC, Mao Wei said an increasingly mobile lifestyle in China could help spark an even bigger Internet boom.

High costs and low speed were the major factors that prevented more Internet users from going mobile, said the report.

Most of the country's Internet users were male, accounting for 58.3 per cent of the total.

The report shows a yawning disparity between the urban and rural areas, with Internet use in cities 6.5 times that in the countryside.

A lack of knowledge of computers and the Internet as well as inadequate access to equipment and networks remained the main difficulties for those who failed to get online, the report said.

The growth of China's Internet population could get a boost after the country rolls out 3G (third generation) mobile telephony, which promises faster Internet access and downloads of data-heavy services such as videos, Mao said.

China had 461 million mobile phone users by the end of 2006, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Information Industry on Monday.

[frei]

Imagine the population in China and you will believe this article.