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PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:10 pm  Post subject: The State of the Network Address
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The State of the Network Address

I hope the sloppy US journalism isn't too much for you, but this is an article covering the net around the world :)

Nearly 60 publications in countries ranging from Australia and Bangladesh to Venezuela and Vietnam either carry the PC World name or are associated with us in some way. So we asked editors at several of them to tell us how their readers get online. Not surprisingly, our colleagues report that many countries are substantially ahead of the United States in many respects.

For example, in the United Kingdom, you can buy DSL service with a download speed of up to 24 megabits per second. In Denmark, some people have fiber-optic connections as fast as 100 mbps. And in Italy and Spain, broadband service is cheap, and dial-up service is free (except for the cost of the local call). Still, many countries have their own connection quirks; read about them below.

In Italy, Internet users can subscribe to fiber-optic service from FastWeb . According to PC World Italia 's Maurizio Lazzaretti, the service provides 10 mbps of bandwidth, though that's also used for television delivery. DSL service is less expensive but more common in less densely populated areas, with 4 mbps being the most common option; it costs about 20 euros per month (around $25) plus VAT (tax). Fiber-optic service costs twice that. With both types of services, subscribers can add VoIP capability for around 20 euros per month. Dial-up service is free, except for the local call.

In the United Kingdom, people have a few more options, though fiber optics isn't yet one of them. DSL speeds of up to 24 mbps for downloads and 1.3 mbps for uploads are available, though they're geographically limited, says Simon Jary, editorial director of PC Advisor . Rosemary Haworth, PC Advisor's features editor, adds that "in practice, the availability of such speeds is still very much limited to places within spitting distance of a British Telephone exchange enabled for such rates, so [customers] get fobbed off with 18 mbps if theya??re lucky." We should all be so lucky.

Cable Internet connections range from 2 mbps to 10 mbps download speeds, with 256 kbps to 384 kbps uploads, and they're marginally more popular than DSL accounts, says Haworth. Nearly 70 percent of all UK Internet connections are made via broadband--much higher than in the United States.

But the average consumer broadband connection is more like 2 mbps, with an average cost of between A#15 and A#20 ($28 to $37) per month. "It's common for services to have capped usage limits, at around 2GB per month," adds Jary.

"The real flyer at the moment is TalkTalk 's broadband and phone package," says Jary. The package includes 8-mbps downloads and 448-kbps uploads, with a 40GB usage cap; it includes unlimited calls to the UK and international landlines (28 countries), all for just A#21 ($39) per month. "This is causing a price war on UK broadband, with others soon to offer combined broadband/phone packages," says Jary.

Spain, Malta, Denmark, Norway

Internet users in Spain have most of the same offerings as in the United States. Dial-up is still the most common connection type, but DSL is "getting more popular very fast," says Arantxa G. Aguilera, editor in chief of PC World Espa ñ a . Dial-up access is free (except for the local call); DSL options include 1-mbps service for 25 euros ($32) per month or 20-mbps service for 40 euros ($51) monthly.

Citizens of the Mediterranean island nation of Malta can take advantage of DSL or cable Internet access with speeds ranging from 128 kbps download/64 kbps upload to 4 mpbs download/256 kbps upload, says Tony Mule Stagno, editor of PC World Malta . Prices start at Lm5.95 ($18) per month; dial-up access can be had for Lm3.50 ($10) per month.

As in many European Union countries, providers have usage caps. "Practically all ISPs have a download limit for broadband," Stagno says. "When this is reached, you can buy top-ups."

In Denmark, 79 percent of the population has access to the Internet from home, says Robert Vanglo, editor in chief of PC World Denmark . Dial-up and ISDN still make up 50 percent of those Internet connections, however, and those services still charge by the minute. But Danes have plenty of faster options.

Cable Internet speeds reach 4 mbps download/1 mbps upload, albeit at a princely sum of 594 kroners ($101). DSL, with speeds of 4 mbps download/256 kbps upload, costs a little less, at 429 kroners ($73). "[DSL] with 8 mbps download/1 mbps upload is also possible, but not really provided to private users yet," says Vanglo.

But fiber-optic service is being rapidly deployed, especially in larger cities, and Broadband over Power Line (BPL) is available in some regions. "Fixed wireless seems to have been overthrown by all the alternatives for a fast connection," Vanglo says.

Norwegians can enjoy up to 20-mbps DSL connections--depending on the distance from the local telephone exchange, of course. Access is not cheap, though, at a cost of around 469 Norwegian kroners ($75) per month. "Most people will get between 5 and 15 mbps, I'll guess," says Kurt Lekanger, editor in chief of PC World Norge . Cable Internet with 26-mbps speed is available, but it costs 898 NOK ($144) per month. Most people opt for more modest connections--for example, a 1.5-mbps/350-kbps connection for 270 NOK, or $43, per month.

As in Denmark to the south, some fiber-optic cable has been installed in Norway, but it's not catching on as well as in Denmark. "A few years ago there was a Swedish company ( Bredbandsbolaget ) providing fiber-optic access to private households, with speeds of 100 mbps at a reasonable price," says Lekanger. The company pulled out of Norway, but their existing customers still have 100-mbps access.

Thailand, India

DSL is the fastest Internet connection type in Thailand, with speeds ranging from 128 kbps download/64 kbps upload to 2 mbps download/1 mbps upload. "DSL technology is popular in Bangkok, but the most common connection is still 56 kbps dial-up in up-country," says Kittipong Tansuwan, editor of PC World Thailand . Prices range from about 200 to 2000 Thai baht ($5 to $50) per month.

Nearly 10 percent of India's 1 billion-plus population has a mobile handset, yet only 1.5 million have broadband connections, according to information provided by PC World India editor R. Giridhar. Unfortunately, bandwidth rates for home users are pretty low.

DSL is available in many cities. For example, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. , a large telecom provider, offers 256-kbps service for 900 rupees, or about $19, per month with a 1GB usage cap. A plan with 1-mbps download speed and a 10GB cap costs 3300 INR, or about $71. Another provider, Airtel , offers 512-kbps service for 1094 INR, or about $24 per month.

Hathway Cable & Datacom offers cable Internet access in several cities. A 512-kbps plan with a 2.4GB cap costs 3000 INR, or about $65 per month. And Sify Broadband offers a 256-kbps service with a 150MB-per day cap for 815 INR, or $18 per month.

Ukraine, Bulgaria

LAN connections are also common in Ukraine--for example, an apartment house will be connected to the Internet and then Internet access is distributed to residents via ethernet. Elena Polonskaya, editor of PC World Ukraine , says that DSL is available elsewhere, with speeds of up to 8 mbps download/1 mbps upload, as is cable, with 2 mbps downloads.

But rather than charging solely by the speed of the connection, many providers vary their charges based on traffic--how many megabytes used per month. A LAN connection with a 2GB limit on non-Ukrainian traffic and unlimited in-country traffic costs 240 Ukrainian hryvnia (about $47) from one provider. An 8-mbps download/1-mbps DSL connection costs 100 UAH ($20) with a 500MB cap, or 500 UAH ($100) with a 3GB cap. Alternatively, Ukrainians can choose unlimited but slower connections: A 256-kbps download/256-kbps upload connection with no cap, for example, costs 959 UAH ($190) per month.

Polonskaya says half of the population is still on dial-up--some at 56 kbps, but most modem users get online at 33.6 kbps.

The southern European country of Bulgaria uses some of the same connection mthods as countries in other parts of the continent, according to Evelin Stoev, editor in chief of PC World Bulgaria . "In Bulgaria, the most common Internet connection type is LAN--small providers that operate in small city areas," she says; these operators have roughly 40 percent of the market. Cable Internet accounts for 30 percent of connections; DSL, 20 percent; and dial-up, 10 percent. "Cable TV suppliers' share is rising, because recently they've started to offer so-called three-in-one service--Internet, cable TV, and IP telephony at a very low price," Stoev explains.

But service speed is slower--between 256 kbps and 512 kbps, she adds, though speeds to Bulgarian sites is 2 mbps. "The price for 384 kbps and unlimited traffic is about $15 per month, no matter what of the connection type," she says.

New Zealand, Canada, and More

The New Zealand telecommunications industry is in the process of being deregulated , according to Annabel Crerar, acting deputy editor of PC World New Zealand . "We're all hoping that big changes in the speed and cost of Internet access in New Zealand will follow," she says.

Broadband connections account for about a third of home Internet connections; most of those are DSL lines with a "miserable" maximum download speed of 3.5 mbps and an upload speed of 128 kbps, says Crerar. "This is partly due to our physical distance from international content (the majority of English-language Web sites are hosted in the U.S. and United Kingdom). Although the Southern Cross Cable [a submarine network of fiber-optic cable connecting the island nation's telecommunications to those in other parts of the world] has no capacity issues, bandwidth charges are high."

Still, prices for those modest speeds aren't terrible; a 3.5-mbps plan from Slingshot with a 10GB cap costs NZ$50, or about US$31 (that includes an NZ$10 discount for getting phone service through the same provider).

If you opt for cable, you also have to buy telephone service; a bundle of both from TelstraClear with a 4-mbps Internet connection and a 10GB cap costs NZ$81.90 or about US$51 per month.

As in the United States, cable and DSL dominate Canada's Internet connectivity options, with bandwidths that are comparable, says Jim Ducharme, editor of PC World Canada . At the high end, Videotron 's 20-mbps cable Internet connection costs Can$80, or about US$71 monthly. A 5-mbps DSL connection from one provider, Shaw , costs Can$44, or about US$40 per month. As in several other countries, providers like to bundle Internet connections with phone and/or television service. Ducharme says 35 percent of Canadians still get Internet access via dial-up connections.

Of course, this information covers just a small sampling of the more than 240 countries around the world. For information on Internet access in other countries, see this Wikipedia entry .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_ ... _worldwide

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