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The market, that includes both
information generators and users, is expected to grow very fast and
therefore SARDEG shall have to take its turn in catering for
potential growth and development of the market. The growth arises
from the change in the attitude of users, recognizing the importance
and ease of timely access and sharing of accurate information. The
market growth is attributable to various tax incentives introduced
for ICT sectors by governments.
Customers and users of SARDEG will
come from all sectors of the society, in particular grassroots
communities, government officials, civil society, private sectors,
development partners, the general public and international partners.
There are 300 million users worldwide today with nearly 150,000
users added everyday. Internet penetration in Asia is presently
driven by business, unlike in USA, where individuals drive it. The
total Internet home connections in India are close to 1.6 million,
though it is estimated that the total number of users is nearly 4.8
million (Aug 2000 – NASSCOM India).
A study of the Internet users in
Bangladesh showed professional distribution as follows: students,
50%; computer professionals, 12%; engineers, 10%; physicians, 8%;
Director s, 6%; teachers, 5%; businessmen, 4%; lawyers, 3%; and
government officers, 2%. They were accessing the Internet from six
months to one and one-half years and using online Internet for
minimum of four months. Most (85%) pay online bills by themselves
and the rest (15%) use the Internet on behalf of their companies.
They pay Internet bills ranging from US $7.50-175 per month, but
bills for most users usually do not exceed US $16 because they don't
use areas other than e-mail for fear of extra bills. Web browsers or
newsgroup readers usually need to pay more than US $60 per month.
Daily online time varies from user to user and ranges between 5 and
40 minutes (but mostly below 10 minutes) which gives a monthly
cumulative range of 2.5-20 hours per user (mostly below 5 hours).
Some 83% of the online time is used for e-mails, 12% for Web
browsing, and only 5% for newsgroup reading. As the cost factor
eases over the time in the region the user base for the development
gateway is bound to increase many folds.
The ICT infrastructure is continuing to grow in the region. The new
management mechanisms are on the verge of boosting the national
network, expecting to have completed linking all of the local
administrative units and creating an Internet point of presence for
every such unit. This ushers in many more customers at hand for the
SARDEG.
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