ITU Encourages Internet Growth In Developing World

But it says poorer countries still have a long way to go before they reach the levels of usage in the world's richest countries.

The ITU is urging developing states to improve their telephone systems to encourage easier access to the internet if they want to reap the possible economic rewards.

The ITU says a country's wealth is a major factor in determining what percentage of the population uses the internet, but there are other factors.

Finland, for example, has the highest level of internet usage in the world, yet it is by no means the richest country. Other factors encouraging internet use include the state of a country's telephone system and the cost of using it.

Internet take-up has been relatively high in developing countries with free local calls, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

The ITU says that developing countries can also encourage internet usage by ensuring that there is competition amongst internet providers. It's thought that this factor explains the relatively high use of the internet in South Africa and China, which both have many different service providers.

By contrast in India, until recently, one company had a monopoly on providing internet services and the level of take-up there has been surprisingly low.

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