March 14, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

INTERNET MILESTONE AS NON-U.S. SURFERS DOMINATE WEB

LONDON, March 14, Graphic News: HOME surfers from South Korea are globally the most active, according to the Internet measurement service Nielsen/NetRatings.
The survey shows surfers in South Korea spend an average of 16 hours 17 minutes online, followed by Canada, the U.S., and Hong Kong.
With 22.3 million surfers, South Korea now represents the fourth largest internet market behind the United States, Japan and Germany.
South Korea, famous for its dominance on the semiconductor market, led by Samsung and Hyundai, has been widely regarded as a center of high-technology development. This has led to the countryÕs internet usage moving up to the worldÕs highest level.
ÒWith a high penetration of broadband internet access and a sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure, Korea has emerged as a dominant internet market in Asia,Ó said David Day, analytical service director at Nielsen/NetRatings.
Day points out that it only costs US$28 for an average monthly broadband subscription and $8 for a telephone line connection to the internet, both with unlimited access time and both much cheaper than in America.
The survey also revealed another internet milestone -- for the first time surfers outside the United States now account for more than half of the worldÕs internet population. The U.S. web market -- estimated at 163 million people --  now represents just 44 percent of the 371 million people who make up the global web community.
The survey was based on the time spent online at homes at 21 selected countries in January.
/ENDS
Sources: Nielsen/NetRatings, Reuters, Korea Herald

Table: Time spent online at home, January 2001
Rank           Country                  Time/month              Internet population
1                  South Korea           16:17                           22.3m
2                  Canada                  10:48                           14.6m
3                  U.S.                           9:57                           163.0m
4                  Hong Kong               9:46                           3.7m
                    Global average       9:08                           371.0m
5                  Germany                  8:16                           24.6m
6                  Japan                        7:56                           37.7m
7                  Netherlands             7:08                           7.9m
8                  Australia                  7:07                           8.5m
9                  Brazil                        7:06                           10.0m
10                Italy                          7:05                           15.9m
11                Taiwan                     6:57                           10.0m
12                Spain                        6:33                           3.6m
13                France                       6:32                           10.9m
14                New Zealand           6:28                           1.6m
15                Norway                    6:22                           2.2m
16                Singapore                 6:05                           1.9m
17                Sweden                     6:02                           5.3m
18                UK                             5:59                           21.0m
19                Denmark                  5:13                           2.7m
20                  Finland                  4:57                           1.9m
21                  Ireland                  4:25                           1.1m
/ENDS