Thursday, 15 July , 2004, 14:38
Internet and broadband base in the country is still languishing at 0.4 per cent
and 0.02 per cent, minister of state for communications and information technology
Shakeel Ahmad said today. The government is examining recommendations of the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to accelerate growth of Internet
and broadband penetration, he told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
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Bits per capita is a relatively new measure of Internet
use. The size of the Internet in a country indicates an element of its progress
towards an information-based economy. International Internet bandwidth provides
a measure of Internet activity because many people share accounts, or use corporate
and academic networks along with cyber cafes and business centers. Outgoing
bandwidth also takes better account of the wide range of possible use, from
those who write a few emails each week, to users who spend many hours a day
on the net browsing, transacting, streaming, and downloading. Because of this,
the often used 'Number of Internet Users' indicator may have less relevance
in the developing world than in other places.
The coloured circle in each country on the map shows, to exact scale, the international
bandwidth in bits per capita (BPC) available in Mid 2002 from publicly accessible
IP networks.
Bandwidth availability in Africa varies tremendously, but is generally very
low compared to developed countries. Although there are few intra-African links,
the marine fibre cables shown are now all operational and should provide faster
and cheaper routes within and out of Africa.
http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-6568-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html