ICTs and the Internet around the world

The use of information and communication technologies is growing dramatically, exponentially in some cases. In the near future, probably in the year 2000, the volume of traffic carried over the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol will surpass the volume of traffic using the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Already, it is estimated that around 250 million people are using the Internet. The volume of business that will be transacted over the Internet will surpass $ 1.3 trillion by the year 2003. It is predicted that in the coming 5-10 years, most telecommunications, including telephony, fax, interactive television, streaming multimedia including video-conferencing and electronic data exchange will grow in volume and will transit over the Internet. Internet bandwidth is expected to grow by about 50-100 times over the next 7 years . 

The only communication technology that is growing faster than the Internet, is the growth in the number of users of cellular telephones . At present, it is estimated that there are about 300 million mobile phones users worldwide and that this will grow to about 1 billion in the year 2005. However cell phone growth is also contributing to overall growth in access to the Internet. Here as well, convergence is operating. According to the Yankee Group and Ovum , by the year 2005, the estimated number of smart phone users worldwide will range between 50 to 200 million. Smart phones are cell phones equipped with microbrowsers. About 3 million users today have access to the Internet using their cell phones.

Internet use continues to grow, with the estimated number of actual subscribers at around 250 million depending on the source quoted. The term subscribers and users must be used carefully because many subscribers are actually governments or large companies. In developing countries, it is common for many people to use one PC, so these figures are probably not accurate.