主题：【文摘】INTERNET覆盖率全球对比 -- 西风陶陶

UN: Nordic Nations Lead Digital Technology Access

Wed November 19, 2003 11:48 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)

By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - Nordic countries lead the world in access to digital information and communication technology but four Asian "tiger" economies are catching up fast, the United Nations telecommunications agency said on Wednesday.

In a new report, the Geneva-based body said Sweden and Denmark led the field, closely followed by Iceland, South Korea and Norway, while Iceland and Sweden had the world's highest rates of Internet connection.

Studies by experts at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) showed Hong Kong had by far the cheapest Internet access, based on the lowest price for 20 hours use as a portion of average income.

On a scale based around 1.00, the tariff in Hong Kong was 0.19 while in second place United States it was 0.51 and in third place Singapore it was 0.64. In Sweden, it was 1.1 and in the Democratic Republic of Congo it reached nearly 1,000.00.

The studies, covering 178 economies, showed that many once poorer states have in recent years invested heavily in digital information and communication technology as a driver for development and established a relatively high rate of access.

These include ex-communist countries such as Estonia, the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, and island states including the Bahamas and the Seychelles.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

The ITU found sub-Saharan African countries had least overall access to digital information and communication technology -- which also includes mobile phones -- with almost none in Burkina Faso and Niger.

The agency said what it dubs its Digital Access Index (DAI) was the first such survey to take into account education levels and affordability as well as the existence of infrastructure in determining where countries stood in the rankings.

In the past, ITU expert Michael Minges told a news briefing, "limited infrastructure has often been regarded as the main barrier to bridging the Digital Divide" -- the gap in ICT use between rich and poor countries.

But this was no longer the case

South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have scored the greatest advances in information technology use and application over the past four years, the ITU said.

The four are among 25 nations that the agency lists in the Index as having high access -- its top rating with a potential score of 1.00. Sweden, at number one, scores 0.85, with Denmark at 0.83 and Iceland and South Korea at 0.82.

The United States shares 10th position with Canada on 0.78, while New Zealand, Italy, France and Slovenia tie for 21st place with 0.72 and Israel is 25th with 0.70.

Heading the 40-nation second category, defined by ITU as having "upper access," is Ireland at 0.69, with Mauritius, Russia, Mexico and Brazil equal 36th on 0.50 at the bottom of a listing including other European Union members Spain, Greece and Portugal as well as Malaysia, Argentina and Jamaica.

Medium access states, a total of 58, range from former Soviet Belarus through South Africa, Egypt and India down to Armenia at 0.30, while the 55 low-access nations are headed by Zimbabwe on 0.29 down to Niger on 0.04. Previous 1| 2