IP: Study Shows 300 Mil Worldwide Web Users -- believe it or not

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/146087.html

Study Shows 300 Mil Worldwide Web Users




                   By Martin Stone, Newsbytes
                   TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA,
                   22 Mar 2000, 6:58 AM CST

                   A major study of Web usage released today by a 
Canadian polling organization shows 300 million
                   people are now wired in around the globe and that 
one billion will be online by 2005.

                   The survey, conducted by the Toronto-based Angus 
Reid Group, shows Canada second only to the US
                   in terms of Web usage, but European and Japanese 
users lead in employing wireless Internet devices such as
                   Web-enabled pagers and palm computers.

                   The study of 28,374 people in 34 countries 
representing a total population of 900 million, conducted at a 
reported cost of $1
                   million, suggests one billion people worldwide will 
be using the Internet by 2005 and as many as 150 million more people
                   are planning to connect yet this year.

                   The figures show an estimated 40 million people 
used the Internet in 1996, but today's growth is strongly 
concentrated in a
                   few countries and a large number of people around 
the world don't intend to go online anytime soon.

                   The survey was conducted in November, December and 
January and is considered accurate to within one percentage
                   point 19 times in 20.

                   It found that countries in Eastern and Southern 
Europe have the largest numbers of adults who claim to have no 
interest in
                   going online, and they own fewer home computers.