Russia can achieve a real breakthrough in the number of Internet users only with the help of special state programs, experts argue.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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Russia Has Third-Largest Number of Cell Phone Subscribers
The UN released Information Economy Report 2006 on Friday, recording 1 billion Internet users around the world. The United States is the leader in terms of the number of the world web users with 200 million people. Russia is 11th with 21.8 million users. In terms of cell communication, Russia has the third-largest number of subscribers.
The number of Internet users exceeded 1 billion people, the report of the UN Conference on Trade and Development says. 1 billion and 20 million people were using it as of January 2006, which is 19.5 percent more than last year. The United States is the world web leader with 200 million users, China is the runner-up with 11 million people and Japan is ranked third with 85.3 million. The report makes it a point that these countries managed to reach these impressive figures because of substantial state support. Russia has landed on number 11 with 21.8 million users, ahead of the CIS and Eastern Europe. The number of Internet users in Russia grew 17.8 percent in one year. Experts note that Russia can achieve a real breakthrough in this sector only with the help of special state programs.
The report also cites statistics on cell communication subscribers. 2.17 billion people were using cellular communication at the end of the year, 23.5 percent more than last year. China tops the list of cell phone subscribers with 393 million people and the United States occupies the second position with 201 million users. Russia has climbed to number three with 120 million subscribers. However, Russia beats these two countries in terms of phone use percentage. 83 out of 100 Russians have a cell phone while in the United States only 70 percent of the people have it, and only 30 percent – in China. Lithuania is the leader in terms of number of cell phones per capital – 127 percent. The rating was compiled on the basis on the number of SIM-cards but not on the number of their owners.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 18, 2006
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