Laffitte Conseil

Home Internet Usage in India Creeps Up

Internet users in urban India totaled 30.32 million in April 2007, according to JuxtConsult. That is up 28% over the number of users reported in April 2006.

bercafes drove the total in 2006, but that increased Internet usage at home was the big story in 2007. Home Internet usage in India grew 19% from April 2006 to April 2007.

Gauging an accurate measure of regular Internet users is difficult in India as a whole (including rural usage), due to the majority of Internet users accessing the Internet from cybercafes and the sheer size of the population.

eMarketer estimates there will be 71 million total Internet users in India by 2011.

The variety of comparative estimates eMarketer has assembled for India paints a confused picture. Internet users could number anywhere between 18 million and 60 million! eMarketer has assessed that the numbers from the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) as well as past JuxtConsult data seem more plausible than most.

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Germans are moving online

Germany is home to Europe's largest online population, and it is still growing.

In a new report, Germany: Online Overview, eMarketer estimates that there were nearly 40 million active Internet users in Germany in 2006, and expects that number to climb to nearly 50 million before 2011.

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China and Web 2.0

With the world's second-largest and fastest-growing Internet user population, China has become the next frontier for Web 2.0 activity. In recent months, MySpace, Yahoo! and Google have all made inroads into the Chinese market by either launching local versions of their sites or investing in China-based technology or social networking startups.

Venture capitalists are also heeding the call. Intel Capital, the financial services unit of the US semiconductor giant, invested an undisclosed sum — said to be in the millions of dollars — in fast-rising Chinese social network 51.com. Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, General Atlantic and IDG Technology Venture Investment have also staked claims on various Chinese Web 2.0 companies, according to articles in BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal.

By 2011, the number of Internet users in China is expected to grow to 246 million, up from 134 million in 2006, according to eMarketer estimates. This represents an average annual growth rate of 13% for the five-year period.

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Brazil Beats a Path Online

After lagging for a number of years, Brazil is finally dancing online. 

Although home connectivity still remains too costly for the majority of Brazilians, the country already leads Latin America in the number of Internet users, ahead of both Argentina and Mexico.

Like most of the world, many Brazilians have become accustomed to going online as part of everyday life, with Internet usage increasing steadily from about 9% of the total population (17.5 million) in 2005 to an expected 22% of population (43.7 million) in 2011.

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Broadband Spreads Out, Speeds Up

The number of broadband subscribers will reach 567 million worldwide by 2011, up from the current 285 million, according to In-Stat's "Broadband Gets Big: Global Broadband Subs Hit 285 Million" report. New subscribers totaled 65 million in the 12 months prior to May 2007.

DSL and cable modems account for 92% of broadband connections worldwide. The report stated that over half of the world's broadband access will come from DSL connections by 2011.

Mike Paxton of In-Stat attributed the growth to a basic desire for speedier Internet connections.

Mr. Paxton also said, "The emergence of online applications such as viewing video clips or TV programming, downloading music files, and even playing online games, are fueling end-user demand for 'fatter pipes.'"

eMarketer's own projections are based on the Federal Communications Commission's definition of at least 200 kbps in at least one direction. eMarketer also counts broadband households, not individual subscriptions. By this count, the number of broadband-connected households will reach more than 497 million worldwide by 2011, up from 251.2 million in 2006.

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12,7 millions de Français surfent à haut débit

L'engouement des Français pour le haut débit et la téléphonie via Internet se confirme. Fin 2006, selon les estimations du régulateur (Arcep), la France comptait 15,2 millions d'abonnés à Internet, dont 12,7 millions en haut débit (12 millions par ADSL), soit 83% du parc total. « Le haut débit progresse sur un rythme élevé depuis trois ans avec une croissance de trois millions d'abonnements par an », observe l'Arcep dans son rapport préliminaire publié le 25 mai 2007.

Par ailleurs, poursuit le régulateur, « l'attrait exercé par l'accès à Internet haut débit pour les ménages et la montée en puissance de la voix sur large bande (Voix sur IP) stabilisent le marché de la téléphonie fixe ». Cette stabilisation (82% des ménages sont équipés d'une ligne fixe contre 95% il y a 10 ans) s'explique par le succès de l'ADSL, des offres 'triple play' et des 'boxes' (Freebox, LiveBox, Neufbox...) Ainsi les appels fixes passés via ces boitiers ADSL ont compté pour 18% du trafic fixe l'an dernier (23% fin 2006), contre moins de 2% en 2004.

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China Online Ads and Population Up

China's online advertising market reached an estimated RMB1.366 billion ($176 million) in the first quarter of 2007, according to Analysys International data cited in Digitimes.

The firm also revealed that Baidu and Sina were the top two Web portals in China, with market shares of 20.6% and 18.6%, respectively.

Online ad spending has increased continuously since 1998, according to a Shanghai iResearch report released in June 2005. Growth rates approaching 50% also indicate that the market has not yet reached maturity.

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Broadband Conquers the World

When everyone has broadband, what does "broadband" mean?

The number of adult Internet users who connect via wired broadband may be peaking, according to Ipsos Insight's "The Face of the Web" study.

More than three-quarters of the online population in 12 major countries used broadband at the end of 2006, while just one-fifth used dial-up. In 2003, Ipsos Insight reported that 45% of adult Internet users were on dial-up connections while 56% used broadband.

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Broadband Brings Broad Changes

Will zippier delivery speeds zap slower players?

As broadband connectivity spreads around the world, so do the value-added services of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and Internet protocol television (IPTV).

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