| Chapter 1: | A Global, Low-Cost Network Thrives |
And Marilyn Cade of the Information Technology Association of America and the Generic Names Supporting Organization of ICANN expressed a common theme when she wrote, “I wish this [optimistic scenario] were true. And I want it to be true, and I want all of us to work very hard to make it as true as possible. First of all, we are at 2006, and we need to address connectivity and affordable access still for vast numbers of potential users on the planet Earth.”
So, How Many People Are Online Now?
The total number of Internet users across the world now, in the fall of 2006, is a matter of debate. There is no one, efficient way to record this measurement. Some market-research firms have estimated the overall total in 2006 at more than a billion users, with 845 million using it regularly.
Statisticians at comScore World Metrix reported that more than 694 million people aged 15 and older were on the network as of March 2006—14% of the world’s total population in this demographic. The comScore report indicated that the total Internet use in major Asian nations, including Japan, Korea, India, and China, constitutes 25% of the total worldwide online population (168 million users), a group 11% larger than U.S. users (152 million). The report noted that 10 years ago, U.S. users accounted for two-thirds of the global Internet population; now they represent less than a quarter of Internet users (comScore, 2006, p. 1).
Current Issues in the Network’s Global Development
The continued innovation of the architecture of the Internet to support efficiently and securely the flow of more data to more people is no small order, but it is a given in most technology circles.