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China Leads The Internet User Race
West Looks East
A great many eyes are focussed on China today. The modern Olympic Games are about more than sport and camaraderie. Indeed, the Olympic torch shines a curious light on any host country. A glaring commercial light. Even U.S. President George W. Bush cut the red ribbon at an impressive new U.S. Embassy in Beijing today. Big country number one smiles wryly to big country number two. But who is number one and who is number two?
China In First Place Despite A Handicap
Research firm Nielsen Online, announced that in June this year, U.S. had an estimated 223 million Internet users. China measures 253 million people online. Despite government controls. That's 20 million more screen-gazers and China's not even reaching for the performance enhancing drugs yet! Beijing's current policies encourage Internet use for business and education. Access restrictions on Web sites deemed pornographic or subversive are not going to change any time soon.
The China Internet Network Information Centre states that China's Internet penetration is still low at just 19 percent. Across the International Date Line, the Pew Internet and American Life Project puts U.S. online penetration at 71 percent.
Chinese mobile phone carriers do not yet support 3G technology. With more than 500 million mobile accounts, China's potential for wireless Internet users is astonishing. Potential is never the same as reality. But even so, with Beijing's permission for 3G connectivity "coming soon", the games have quite literally just begun.