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SOUTH ASIA
source:
www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art
_id=905357978&rel=true
www.austrade.gov.au/IT/layout/
0,,0_S4-1_wqcrz1e-2_-3_PWB193729-4_
trends-5_-6_-7_,00.htm
www.make-it-safe.net/eng/fact2.asp
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The digital divide actually falls along old fault lines that have always segmented societies: gender, urban/rural and most of all, income. Those cracks are readily apparent in South Asia, which has countries at every point along the development spectrum…- India has more than 39 million Internet users – that’s 13% of the world’s Web population, but only 3.6% of India’s population. In 2004, there were 189 operational ISPs in the country, but 10% of the ISPs have 90% of the subscribers. India has huge potential for Internet growth through its 42 million fixed line subscribers, its booming mobile phone market and the growing popularity of cyber cafes. An estimated 60% of users regularly get on the Internet via the country’s 9,000 cyber cafes.
- a 2002 report on Internet usage in India indicates that cyber cafes are the dominant access point for school users. According to the NetSense study, over 48% of school going Indians access the Internet at Cyber Cafes. However, the research also indicates that home access is a driver of early net access, with a dominant proportion of net users under the age of 10 having Internet access at home. Yahoo is the stickiest site among school going children, amounting for 61.3% of visitors. The study indicates that entertainment and sport sites are the most popular sites for young Indian Internet users. It also reveals that 8.8% of young schools users have made low-risk online purchases such as movie tickets.
- Bangladesh has an estimated 243,000 Internet users, up 143% in the past five years (2000-2005). That’s still only 0.2% of the population with Internet access. This is likely to change dramatically in coming years, with mobile phone use almost doubling annually over the last two to three years. As in other Asian countries, much of the interest in the Internet in Bangladesh has been driven by middle class youth, particularly students. Public access to the Internet is limitedly available in the private telephone centres and cyber cafes;
- By March 2005, there were 1.5 million Internet users in Pakistan, resulting in a penetration rate of 0.9% (one of the lowest in the region). In November 2000, the government claimed to have spent the equivalent of more than 90 million Euros on Internet infrastructure which was said to have reduced the cost of connecting to the Internet by 55%. Three hundred cities and towns are already connected.
- the Philippine Star reports that the introduction of pre-paid Internet access cards in 2002 has led to an increase in the number of people going online in the Philippines. According to the report, around 70% of Internet users in the Philippines are pre-paid card users. Around 40% of online Filipinos are aged between 20-29 years, while 12% of Internet users are aged 40 or above. The report also indicates that 40% of Internet users are based in the capital, Manila. By March 2005, the local Internet population has reached 7.82 million;
- Only 0.2% of the Cambodian population, or 35,000 people, are Internet users – although that’s up 483.3% on five years ago (2000-2005). Internet use has been hampered by poor infrastructure and high dialup costs. The future of Internet access is likely to lie with Cambodia’s flourishing mobile market - more than 600,000 mobile phone users compared with just 40,000 fixed lines;
- Malaysia’s 9.5 million Internet users account for just over 1/3 of its population, up 157% on five years ago (2000-2005). Almost half of the 25 million people in Malaysia have a mobile phone, and that’s growing strongly;
- Singapore was one of the first countries in Asia to get an Internet connection. By March 2005, there were 2.135 million users, resulting in a penetration rate of 60.2% (one of the highest in Asia). A recent survey by the Parents Advisory Group for the Internet (PAGi) shows that there is a gap between what Singapore parents thought they knew of their children's online activities and what the young people actually said they did: 54% of parents claimed they surf the Internet with their children - yet just 34% of the teens report having their parents surf with them; only 20% of Singapore parents thought their children access pornography - when more than half (66%) of the youth respondents have either accessed it deliberately or accidentally. 60% of Singapore youths have either a computer at home or have their own computer.
- The percentage of teenagers using the Internet in Thailand has doubled over the last four years. Most teenagers spend their time online searching for information, emailing and for entertainment purposes. The increasing number of youngsters online is taken as a good sign in Thailand where much emphasis is being placed in ICT at the moment. A 2004 National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre survey in Thailand found that more than half the country’s Internet users were aged 15-24, with another 10% aged 6-14. With only 12% of the Thai population online, young people can be expected to account for a large proportion of growth in future. By March 2005, there were 8.42 million Internet users, resulting in a penetration rate of 12.8%;
- Indonesia is a large archipelago, consisting of hundred thousand of islands. By March 2005, there were 15.3 million Internet users, resulting in a penetration rate of 7%. The basis for Internet use is largely professional/business related. According to an AC Nielsen survey (2000), 52% of the Internet users access the network from work; 26% from Internet cafes; 19% from university campuses; 13% from relatives’ homes; 11% from their own homes; 1% from libraries. In Indonesian Internet cafés, chatting is the most popular activity.
- Another AC Nielsen survey in 2000 indicated that Internet users in Indonesia are still relatively young: 7% of users are 40 years old and over; 15% are aged between 30–39; 17% are aged between 25–29; 30% are aged between 20–24; 24% are aged between 15–19; 7% are aged between 10–14;
- Vietnam’s 5.3 million Internet users comprise about 6% of the population, with numbers up more than 2500% over the past five years (2000-2005). Vietnam’s mobile phone market is also growing strongly.
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