🚀 go-pugleaf

An interesting article, reposted from comp.internet.net-happenings:

> From: "John S. Walker" <jwalker@tor.hookup.net>
> Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 00:12:05 +0000
> 
> February 15, 1997
> 
> http://
> www.thestar.com/thestar/editorial/money/970215C03c_FI-CRANE15.html
> 
> Heading in right Net direction
> 
> PARIS - HOW DO WE get ready for the 21st century? One
> key way is by becoming comfortable with the Internet.
> 
> According to Bill Gates' Microsoft Corp., the Internet
> is ``the most important phenomenon in the computer
> industry in the past 15 years.''
> 
> And developing applications for the Internet will be
> ``the next great wave'' for the computer industry.
> 
> Much of what we do in schools, shopping, job searching,
> business, health care and entertainment over the next
> decade will somehow involve the Internet.
> 
> But if the Internet is going to become the platform for
> a country's competitiveness, then how can a country ensure it is at
> the leading edge?
> 
> An important study by the Organization for Co-operation and
> Development says it's crucial to create a regulatory environment that
> stimulates telecommunications competition to keep the cost of Internet
> access down.
> 
> Canada is one of the cheapest countries in the world for Internet
> access.
> 
> According to the study, the total cost for 30 hours on the Internet in
> Canada is $37.28 a month. (The study quotes U.S. dollars adjusted for
> purchasing power to make international comparisons accurate.
> Yesterday, a U.S. dollar cost about $1.35 Canadian.)
> 
> The cheapest access is in Florida, at $31.96 per month. Texas,
> California and Colorado are also cheaper than Canada.
> 
> But in Germany the same access costs $204.50 a month; France, $155.56;
> Japan, $153.32. New York is also expensive at $106.92 a month.
> 
> One reason for the great disparity in costs is that some phone
> companies charge consumers for the amount of time they spend on a
> telephone line. Canadians pay flat monthly fees.
> 
> The U.S. telephone industry, however, is currently asking the U.S.
> Federal Communications Commission to charge by the minute for Internet
> usage. And companies such as Bell Canada will probably seek some way
> of raising rates as Internet users tie up phone lines for hours in a
> system designed for three-minute phone calls.
> 
> In Canada, access to the Internet will continue to improve, though, as
> cable companies offer high-speed access and phone companies try to
> respond.
> 
> Wireless also offers potential.
> 
> The study also finds that countries with low access costs have a
> higher proportion of hosts or connections to the Internet, which
> implies greater use.
> 
> Canada, the study says, already has 20.4 Internet hosts or connections
> per thousand people, tying Denmark at eighth in the world.
> 
> Finland, where monthly costs for 30 hours are $60.41, tops the world
> with 55.5 connections per thousand people.
> 
> The United States is fourth, at 38.4 per thousand, or nearly double
> the Canadian penetration level. Germany, France and Japan rank much
> lower.
> 
> Countries with high use of the Internet and personal computers are
> more likely to develop the kind of work force that is essential for
> the information age, according to Andy Grove, president of Intel Corp.
> 
> In Canada, the federal government is implementing its highly ambitious
> SchoolNet program, which will link all of the country's 16,500 schools
> and 3,400 public libraries to the Internet by next year.
> 
> Meanwhile, countries with high use are also much more likely to
> develop local content and software for the Internet, according to the
> study.
> 
> This helps explain, for example, the large cluster of small multimedia
> companies in Toronto.
> 
> Canada also has an important program of research and development, the
> Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and
> Education, or CANARIE, a partnership of more than 140 public- and
> private-sector groups.
> 
> The information highway will no doubt take many twists and turns. But
> Canada appears to be headed in the right direction.
> 
> -------------------
> 
> Also in this issue
> 
> - Top Navy Attorney Reprimanded For Downloading Internet Porn
> 
> - SFO's Latest Arrival -- The Internet Kiosk lets travelers e-mail,
> fax, surf
> 
> - Bank gives instant loan okays on Net
> 
> - Coalition frowns on ISP access fees
> 
> - Disney to buy stake in Starwave, run the Web site company
> -------------------------------
> 
> Excerpt from CSS Internet News       ,-~~-.____
> For subscription details email      / |  '     \
> jwalker@tor.hookup.net with        (   )        0
> SUBINFO CSSINEWS in the             \_/-, ,----'
> subject line.                          ====           //
>                                        /  \-'~;    /~~~(O)
> "On the Internet no one               /  __/~|   /       |
> knows you're a dog"                 =(  _____| (_________|
> 
> -------------------------------
> 
> 
> 


--
####    |\^/|     Colin R. Leech     ag414 or crleech@freenet.carleton.ca
#### _|\|   |/|_  Civil engineer by training, transport planner by choice.
#### >         <  Opinions are my own. You may consider them shareware.
####  >_./|\._<   "If you can't return a favour, pass it on." - A.L. Brown