[DDN] Invitation to NCTET's Critical Issue Forum
The National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) invites you to the second in a series of education forums focusing on the critical role technology plays in meeting our nation’s most challenging education and workforce development issues Space is Limited – RSVP NOW to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to reserve your space Globalization and US Competitiveness: The Role of K-12 Education in Assuring Language Competency Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 noon Location: US Capitol Building; HC-5 Speakers will include: Ø Keynote: Dr. Richard D. Brecht, Executive Director, Center for Advanced Study of Language, University of Maryland Ø Dr. Yong Zhao, University Distinguished Professor , Director, Center of Teaching and Technology, College of Education, Michigan State University Ø Dr. Robert Fischer, Professor of French and Linguistics, Chair, Department of Modern languages, Texas State University, Executive Director, Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Ø Martha Abbott, Director of Education, American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages NCTET’s “Critical Issues” forums are designed for policymaking audiences to showcase current and emerging innovations in technology and their application for learning achievement and workplace productivity. NCTET’s forums are presented with support from Verizon Communications, Inc. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Awards Presented by Astroturf Group, TRAC.
Post Everywhere. Teletruth News Alert - September 12th, 2006 http://www.newnetworks.com/ethicsaward.htm Ethics in Telecommunications Awards Presented by Astroturf Group. United Church of Christ a Stooge for the Baby Bells? Only in Washington DC would no one bat an eyelash when an astroturf group is a sponsor and prime mover that gives out ethics' awards in telecommunications at the National Press Club. The Everett C. Parker Lecture and Awards Luncheon --The 24th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Awards Luncheon, will be held Tuesday, September 12, 2006, at 11:45 a.m. at the National Press Club. The event is sponsored by the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (OC, Inc.) and the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC). TRAC: http://www.trac.org/events/ We are not commenting on whether any of the recipients deserve their awards. TRAC is run by Issue Dynamics. Sam Simon is the chairman of TRAC as well as the founder of Issue Dynamics, a group that works for the phone companies, Verizon, ATT, BellSouth to create astroturf groups or work with co-opted consumer, Hispanic, black, seniors or disabled groups for phone company-sponsored campaigns and lobbying. See our homage page to astroturf groups: http://www.newnetworks.com/skunkworks101.html What is Astroturf? http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf Some Data About TRAC: About TRAC: http://www.newnetworks.com/skunkworksTRAC.html 1) TRAC published a series of biased reports that were used to help the Bell companies enter long distance while trashing ATT and MCI. This data was used and quoted by Verizon, BellSouth, SBC and others as real. Example: A new study by (TRAC) found that consumers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida and Georgia could save at least $507 million and up to $1.73 billion on local phone and long distance service after one year of increased competition. 2) Even though TRAC is a non-profit, it was able to use money from Issue Dynamics (the Bell companies as clients) to do these reports. TRAC IRS filings for 2002 showed TRAC made $19,600, had $47,000 of expenses, and owed Issue Dynamics and others $122,000 in liabilities. During the year, TRAC purchased goods and services from an affiliated taxable organization named Issue Dynamics, inc. Issue Dynamics, Inc. provider management services as well as overhead costs for fees to TRAC. 3) Economics Technology wrote about TRAC and its data: The so called consumer group that released these long distance studies, TRAC, is actually the creation of a Washington, DC public relations firm who's clients include Verizon, all of the other Bell companies, and the Bell companies' lobbying organization, the United States Telephone Association. The study's various assertions and assumptions, and the conclusions based thereon, are demonstrably false. See; http://www.teletruth.org/docs/ETItestimonyvirginia2002.pdf 4) Teletruth filed a complaint with the FCC over the fact that TRAC and other Bell funded groups are on the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee. http://www.teletruth.org/consumeradvisory.html About the Other Sponsor, United Church of Christ (UCC) Sourcewatch outlines some of the relationships between the Bell companies, Issue Dynamics and the UCC. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=United_Church_of_Christ And a story at http://www.UCCtruths.com asks United Church of Christ Stooge for the Baby Bells? Verizon (and Issue Dynamics) created a rally and campaign with various groups including UCC and the Gray Panthers to make MCI, then Verizon's largest competitor, look bad in the courts. Ironically, it worked and Verizon ended up buying MCI. What's wrong with astroturf groups? These faux grass-roots groups and their 'skunkworks' -- a cabal/campaign that controls the message for various groups --- are essentially out to deceive the regulators, the press and the public. This allows BellSouth, ATT and Verizon to use non-profit status' to create campaigns that benefit these companies, but have the look-and-feel of being good for consumers. Or worse, there are co-opted organizations such as American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) or League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), that represent various black, Hispanic, disabled or seniors' issues. Because of their corporate funding, they make decisions that help their non-profit organization, but at a cost -- many of the issues they back don't help their constituents. And there is a great deal of documentation that shows that various Bell-funded campaigns raised customer rates, retarded competition and slowed America's broadband deployment and the economy -- real harms because faux groups have the funding of deep-pocket corporations to shout louder than anyone else. This problem is widespread and hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to fool the public. Go to Issue Dynamics web site and you
Re: [DDN] Contacts and projects for Rural ICT/SMEs Business models
Dear members, I am working in the ICT4RD project in Tanzania. I am in the preparation to conduct a stud on the appropriate Business model to diffuse broadband services in the rural. My vision is that the model integrate ICT and SMEs activities. It should also accomodate other e-services such as e-Local government, e-Health, and eLearning. I have limited reference for such iniatives. I kindly, request whomever to provide contacts and reference materials with insights of ICT/SMEs business models with best practices in the rural. I advance thanks. Kimasha Erick, Co-ordinator, Entrepreneurship Pillar, ICT4RD Project-Tanzania Mob: +255 713 177372 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ictanzania.ne.tz - Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Digital divide.. the access that is possible- can you connect? Depends
There are parts of the U.S. that do not have broadband service at all... I think we have a clear role for government to play in terms of filling that gap. -- Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va) The above quote from Benton Headlines. Those of us who travel widely in the rural parts of the country may see this up close and personal as we try to keep up with our email. My brother was traveling to Africa, and interestingly enough, he was able to send email every day, and sometimes pictures. The digital divide is very uneven, .. and you could say to me, well he was probably in big cities. But the email describing the baboons that took their sandwiches was from a very small place in Africa. Yet I have gone to gasoline stations in Namibia to be able to send a post. America's 50 states have populations rural and tribal who are touched by the installation of infrastructure. My friend Ferdi Serim is working with the Navajo as they install wireless. Native American culture preservation and access to ICT Karen Buller, President and CEO, National Indian Telecommunications Institute Background The History of telecom in Indian Country is a story of deprivation. To illustrate let me tell you a true story. When phone service first came to North Dakota, copper lines were dragged over Indian lands to get to White customers. My friend Carol Davis of Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe told me about how her grandmother desired telephone service, but was ignored by the service provider. In fact their phone company routinely pulled cable over her front yard to get to white customers. After many requests and many rejections from the phone company, Carol's grandmother devised a plan. Every morning she took a large scissors to her front yard and cut the phone wire. It took several times of doing this before she finally received phone service too. I am proud that this brave little-old-lady found a way to get phone service when Native Americans were being ignored. It has not been so easy for other Native Americans to obtain phone service. . There are over 2 million Native Americans in the United States. An important background note for non-Indians is to recognize the diversity with the North American continent of Native Americans. Today there are over 562 federally recognized tribes in the Unites States. They are each sovereign nations with treaty rights. Before Europeans came, there were many more. Just as one would not lump all Europeans together as one of mind or spirit, neither can one lump all Native tribes together. The tribes of North America have different languages, foods and religions. To lump Tribes of the United States together would be like saying Italians are the same as Swedes because they are both Europeans. The differences are great. Don't expect diverse tribes to have the same opinions or ideas. Also telecommunications solutions will by necessity vary widely due the different geographic situations. For example a solution that is affordable in the plains may not even work in the mountains. Tribal diversity and geography must be taken into account when examining business and telecommunications solutions. So this is one of the tribal tales for your understanding. It is from Karen's chapter on Indian Telecommunications. Bonnie Bracey Sutton bbracey at aol com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Digital Divide( too many blogs, too little time)
Hello BBracey et. al, It's no surprise to me that many who discuss the digital divide don't have much of a clue as to life in the trenches. I work with a large population in the U.S. near the geographical area you indicate. It is composed of non-English speakers who are not even literate in the language of their country of origin. The World Health Organization estimates that 1% of the world's adult population has access to a computer. Check their website for more specific stats if you are so inclined. The true victory of propaganda occurs when it makes losers feel like winners. There is still a digital divide. We don't still have funding for the Digital Divide Network based on the proclamation that there is no longer a need but... Most people are unaware of it because those of us on line forget that there are places where there is nothing. Many of the people blogging about the feds are my friends. I probably believe them more than the Feds. But the feds are the ones who told us that there was no digital divide. I am a victim of fed sponsored separate but unequal education. It still affects my life. Usually people in the majority may have an unawareness of the problems of being minority in a mainstream culture that has wealth, influence and power. You may remember, about six months ago, we had a long discussion about the fact that some black activists proclaimed the divide to be over. I wrote an essay that talked about the developing changes in the new wave of technology that are not even at K-12 level, but... I think you have to look at the variables of the digital divide, but before we do that. Have you worked in places where people don't have much of anything and the schools are bad?. Come to DC. In the home of the Education president, the schools are failing, and unfortunately it has nothing much to do with just the technology, the variables are set over history, decades of neglect and disdain about 'colored' people no matter what color they were. There have been many divides in the US that are not about technology. Who cares about DC schools. Heck we don't even have a vote. Our city belongs to the nation and the nation doesn't care about our schools or our political plight. Divide that. The Navajo may have connectivity in their schools. Many children go to boarding schools, and many homes do not have telephones. I can tell you more of these tribal stories. We may want to also think our web sites are not bilingual as others in other countries are to facilitate the use of dual language systems. Probably the economic and education divide affect the digital divide ' more than anything. It's the reason we have the Black , Hispanic and Asian cultures. Our concerns and problems are not always mainstream. Our problems are often pushed aside. Higher education studies often only goes to schools in areas of choice. In the last school that I worked in DC, the conditions inside the school would be oppressive. Think ancient fumes of urine , huge rats and that kind of stuff and danger in the neighborhood, and theft. Digital Divide as a Symptom Education has always played a central role in human development. While today the world accepts universal primary education as an achievable goal, formal schooling for everyone is a relatively recent phenomenon. Even when it was less formalized or standardized, scientific and technical curiosity helped move mankind from the agricultural to the industrial and now into the knowledge economy. At a personal level, education helps individuals move beyond subsistence agriculture, and helps them compete against their peers. However, in today's globalized world, the competition is not just with people of the same village or region, but across continents. A century ago, improving transportation was a driving force behind globalization. Now, information and communications technology (ICT) is a major factor. ICT's role in spurring development is positive, but it has also been seen as asymmetric. While it has the potential to be the great equalizer and democratizer, those who have been left outside its purview, or who fail to harness its potential, are increasingly at risk of falling further behind. In response to increasing concerns about the âdigital divideâ - the gap between those who benefit from digital technologies and those who do not - a growing number of technology initiatives have emerged over the past decade, realizing the potential of digital technologies to underserved community members. This comes from the work of Dr. Rahul Tongia, at Carnegie Mellon, who goes on to say The Digital Divide The digital divide, however defined, is a stark divide and a challenge for development and technology professionals. It is actually a manifestation of other underlying divides, spanning economic, social, geographic, gender, and other divides. Attempting to address the
Re: [DDN] Estimating the number of internet users in a country - amoving target
Dear Salman, I have used and referenced stats from the following websites frequently and most of these are updated on a regular basis and are widely referenced by many sources. Best website for identifying Website and Domain Hosting Info with detailed analysis of companies and stakeholders, I particularly like the market segmentation analysis they provide and has lot of important business data. http://webhosting.info/ For Pakistan http://www.webhosting.info/webhosts/tophosts/Country/PK Internet Usage World Stats - Internet and Population Statistics Internet World Usage Statistics for 233 countries and regions of the world, 2006 population statistics and information for Internet Marketing Research. http://www.internetworldstats.com Internet Society Market Research/Statistics http://www.isoc.org/internet/stats/ ITU-International Telecommunication Union Free Statistics, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics Internet Usage Snapshot Links http://www.refdesk.com/netsnap.html Global Internet Statistics (by Language) http://www.glreach.com/globstats/index.php3 References: http://global-reach.biz/globstats/refs.php3 Details by Country http://global-reach.biz/globstats/details.html Ecommerce Stats till 2004 http://glreach.com/eng/ed/art/2004.ecommerce.php3 Regards --- Fouad Riaz Bajwa FOSS Advocate FOSSFP: Free and Open Source Software Foundation of Pakistan iFOSSF International Free and Open Source Software Foundation, MI, USA -Original Message- From: Salman Ansari [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 6:30 AM To: 'The Digital Divide Network discussion group' Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DDN] Estimating the number of internet users in a country - amoving target In the mail on Tele-medicine, what struck me was the figure of 50 M Internet users in India. I feel the same way when I read statistics of other countries as well. I have always wondered how the number of Internet users in a country is estimated. Over the last 10 years I have been struggling to get to an educated estimate but the range is anything between 5 to 20 Million in Pakistan. I am doing a comprehensive report for setting up Telecenters in the rural areas and despite my long experience in Telecommunications and Internet, I cannot find a sensible and standard acceptable method of finding out how many users does a country or region have. The reason for this complexity for estimating this is because: 1.Each user does not have a registered unique identity like a telephone number hence we cannot make (nearly) neat guesstimates like GSM users. Even GSM users are off by over 20 - 30% since prepaid SIMs do not ensure that every SIM has one user liked to it as people have multiple SIMs. 2.The same issue is exacerbated when trying to determine 'active' and 'inactive' users for this purpose. 3.Most users are pre-paid accounts using scratch cards. But scratch cards are no measure of the number of users. 4.One cannot count e-mail address of local ISPs any longer, since a vast majority uses gmail, hotmail, yahoo or other mail servers 5.The number of users of cyber cafes, Telecenters and other iterant users cannot be counted 6.With HFC, DSL and Broadband in offices and building complexes with local distribution via LANs but having hundreds of users behind a single IP address Hence I fear that the numbers of users given in each country is mostly fiction. Can some one give a proper and standardized method of estimating the number of Internet users in a country, region and world? Or is it just someone conjuring up a number and getting as many people to use this for it becoming THE respectable datum?! The same is the issue with finding the e-readiness of a country by basing it on the number of IP addresses and 'Hosts' alone. What measure is used in different countries - especially in developed and developing economies? I feel that that a standardized and accurate method should be adopted since the status of countries, their own internal development programs and for a variety of other purposes, is now being reckoned based on faulty and uneven statistics of telecommunications usage, specially the Internet. Regards Salman Ansari -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jay Bhatt Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:39 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DDN] Doc's prescription for tele-medicine Hi all An articlce about Internet and tele-medicine in India- How is Internet helping tele-medicine to grow in villages of India? An article recently published in Moneycontrol website points out the benefits of Internet in shaping tele-medicine in India. Excerpt:But now, Telemedicine has got a new lease of life, thanks to the spread of the Internet. With the number of Internet users growing by leaps and bounds (numbering over 50 million as of December 2005,
Re: [DDN] Estimating the number of internet users in a country - a moving target
I don't have a response to your question, but a good place to discuss these kinds of methodological issues is the Association of Internet Researchers List. Subscriptions at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Mark Warschauer UC Irvine In the mail on Tele-medicine, what struck me was the figure of 50 M Internet users in India. I feel the same way when I read statistics of other countries as well. I have always wondered how the number of Internet users in a country is estimated. Over the last 10 years I have been struggling to get to an educated estimate but the range is anything between 5 to 20 Million in Pakistan. I am doing a comprehensive report for setting up Telecenters in the rural areas and despite my long experience in Telecommunications and Internet, I cannot find a sensible and standard acceptable method of finding out how many users does a country or region have. The reason for this complexity for estimating this is because: 1.Each user does not have a registered unique identity like a telephone number hence we cannot make (nearly) neat guesstimates like GSM users. Even GSM users are off by over 20 - 30% since prepaid SIMs do not ensure that every SIM has one user liked to it as people have multiple SIMs. 2.The same issue is exacerbated when trying to determine 'active' and 'inactive' users for this purpose. 3.Most users are pre-paid accounts using scratch cards. But scratch cards are no measure of the number of users. 4.One cannot count e-mail address of local ISPs any longer, since a vast majority uses gmail, hotmail, yahoo or other mail servers 5.The number of users of cyber cafes, Telecenters and other iterant users cannot be counted 6.With HFC, DSL and Broadband in offices and building complexes with local distribution via LANs but having hundreds of users behind a single IP address Hence I fear that the numbers of users given in each country is mostly fiction. Can some one give a proper and standardized method of estimating the number of Internet users in a country, region and world? Or is it just someone conjuring up a number and getting as many people to use this for it becoming THE respectable datum?! The same is the issue with finding the e-readiness of a country by basing it on the number of IP addresses and 'Hosts' alone. What measure is used in different countries - especially in developed and developing economies? I feel that that a standardized and accurate method should be adopted since the status of countries, their own internal development programs and for a variety of other purposes, is now being reckoned based on faulty and uneven statistics of telecommunications usage, specially the Internet. Regards Salman Ansari -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jay Bhatt Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:39 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DDN] Doc's prescription for tele-medicine Hi all An articlce about Internet and tele-medicine in India- How is Internet helping tele-medicine to grow in villages of India? An article recently published in Moneycontrol website points out the benefits of Internet in shaping tele-medicine in India. Excerpt:But now, Telemedicine has got a new lease of life, thanks to the spread of the Internet. With the number of Internet users growing by leaps and bounds (numbering over 50 million as of December 2005, according to Internetworldstats.com and broadband set to explode into Indian homes, the World Wide Web might just be the medicine that the doctor had prescribed for an ailing tele-medicine. Read the full article at: Doc's prescription for tele-medicine http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/tech/docsprescriptionfortelemedicine telemedicine/docsprescriptionfortelemedicine/market/stocks/article/238775 Jay Jay Bhatt Information Services Consultant (Engineering) Hagerty Library, Drexel University TEL 215-895-1873 AOL IM jaybhatt59 YAHOO IM jay_bhatt_98 FAX 215-895-2070 EMAIL [EMAIL PROTECTED] Engineering Resources Blog: http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/englibrary/ Jay's Information Initiatives in India community on the Digital Divide Network http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/InformationIndia Jay's blog on the Digital Divide Network http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/jaybhatt Jay's Journal on LISNews http://www.lisnews.org/~Jay/journal Jay's submissions on LISNews http://www.lisnews.org/~Jay ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL
Re: [DDN] Contacts and projects for Rural ICT/SMEs Business models
Dear Kimasha, I recently heard a talk by a Senator Leornard Tsosie, from the state of New Mexico in the U.S. On a project he is doing taking Internet to remote areas of his state. The name of his project is Internet to the Hogan. Good luck- Kris White http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2006/prod_041806.html http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0zAMPPDlkd4J:www.navajo.org/images/other %2520pdf/The%2520Internet%2520to%2520the%2520Hogans.pdf+Senator+Leonard+Tsos iehl=engl=usct=clnkcd=2 on 9/10/06 9:31 AM, Eric Kimasha at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear members, I am working in the ICT4RD project in Tanzania. I am in the preparation to conduct a stud on the appropriate Business model to diffuse broadband services in the rural. My vision is that the model integrate ICT and SMEs activities. It should also accomodate other e-services such as e-Local government, e-Health, and eLearning. I have limited reference for such iniatives. I kindly, request whomever to provide contacts and reference materials with insights of ICT/SMEs business models with best practices in the rural. I advance thanks. Kimasha Erick, Co-ordinator, Entrepreneurship Pillar, ICT4RD Project-Tanzania Mob: +255 713 177372 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ictanzania.ne.tz - Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. Kris -- Kristine White Project Administrator Computers for Families Project Santa Barbara Partners in Education 805.964.4711 x5400 805.683.6529 fax http://www.sbcff.org ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] [pakistanictpolicy] RE: Estimating the number of internet users in a country - amoving target
Dear Fouad I have most of these sites but when one tries to get to the basis of each statistic and one becomes uneasy since these refer to sources which (at least for Pakistan) are in many cases, invalid. Also the data e.g. in the UN reports are off by several years and are also incorrectly sourced. The issue is how one really estimates the number of Internet users. Claude's and your inputs are useful and I feel that if I can get PTA to fund it, I would compose a media campaign for a common short code SMS for all carriers, broadcast to all users of cell phones to return with a yes or no to a question if they use the Internet or not. This campaign would have rewards linked to responses. The logic is that Internet users will usually also be Cell phone users (40 Million of them!) and we may just get a better handle on at least where we stand in Pakistan. Regards Salman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Fouad Riaz Bajwa Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 9:41 PM To: 'The Digital Divide Network discussion group'; 'The Digital Divide Network discussion group' Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [pakistanictpolicy] RE: [DDN] Estimating the number of internet users in a country - amoving target Dear Salman, I have used and referenced stats from the following websites frequently and most of these are updated on a regular basis and are widely referenced by many sources. Best website for identifying Website and Domain Hosting Info with detailed analysis of companies and stakeholders, I particularly like the market segmentation analysis they provide and has lot of important business data. http://webhosting.info/ For Pakistan http://www.webhosting.info/webhosts/tophosts/Country/PK Internet Usage World Stats - Internet and Population Statistics Internet World Usage Statistics for 233 countries and regions of the world, 2006 population statistics and information for Internet Marketing Research. http://www.internetworldstats.com Internet Society Market Research/Statistics http://www.isoc.org/internet/stats/ ITU-International Telecommunication Union Free Statistics, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics Internet Usage Snapshot Links http://www.refdesk.com/netsnap.html Global Internet Statistics (by Language) http://www.glreach.com/globstats/index.php3 References: http://global-reach.biz/globstats/refs.php3 Details by Country http://global-reach.biz/globstats/details.html Ecommerce Stats till 2004 http://glreach.com/eng/ed/art/2004.ecommerce.php3 Regards --- Fouad Riaz Bajwa FOSS Advocate FOSSFP: Free and Open Source Software Foundation of Pakistan iFOSSF International Free and Open Source Software Foundation, MI, USA -Original Message- From: Salman Ansari [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 6:30 AM To: 'The Digital Divide Network discussion group' Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DDN] Estimating the number of internet users in a country - amoving target In the mail on Tele-medicine, what struck me was the figure of 50 M Internet users in India. I feel the same way when I read statistics of other countries as well. I have always wondered how the number of Internet users in a country is estimated. Over the last 10 years I have been struggling to get to an educated estimate but the range is anything between 5 to 20 Million in Pakistan. I am doing a comprehensive report for setting up Telecenters in the rural areas and despite my long experience in Telecommunications and Internet, I cannot find a sensible and standard acceptable method of finding out how many users does a country or region have. The reason for this complexity for estimating this is because: 1.Each user does not have a registered unique identity like a telephone number hence we cannot make (nearly) neat guesstimates like GSM users. Even GSM users are off by over 20 - 30% since prepaid SIMs do not ensure that every SIM has one user liked to it as people have multiple SIMs. 2.The same issue is exacerbated when trying to determine 'active' and 'inactive' users for this purpose. 3.Most users are pre-paid accounts using scratch cards. But scratch cards are no measure of the number of users. 4.One cannot count e-mail address of local ISPs any longer, since a vast majority uses gmail, hotmail, yahoo or other mail servers 5.The number of users of cyber cafes, Telecenters and other iterant users cannot be counted 6.With HFC, DSL and Broadband in offices and building complexes with local distribution via LANs but having hundreds of users behind a single IP address Hence I fear that the numbers of users given in each country is mostly fiction. Can some one give a proper and standardized method of estimating the number of Internet users in a country, region and world? Or is it just someone conjuring up a number and getting as many people to use this for it becoming THE
