Hot on the heels of PricewaterhouseCoopers optimistic forecasts for the Asia-Pacific region (see Forecasts), a new study from the Yankee Group predicts that internet users in the region will reach 192 million by 2005, a leap from 55 million users in 2000.
Deregulation and lowering of bandwidth prices are cited as the main drivers for growth, “Deregulation is not going from completely protected to completely open, it is somewhere in-between,” said Aditya Puri, an analyst with the Yankee Group’s Internet strategies Asia-Pacific research and consulting practice. “Singapore and Australia pretty much are completely open, Bangladesh and Indonesia are still very closed, and China is right smack in the middle.”
“These developments all are very recent. That is why there is a lot of pent-up demand manifesting itself now. The people in this region have wants and desires for Internet access,” he said. “They are aware the opportunity exists from the media and from movies like ‘Mission Impossible.’ Now, they will put into practice what they have been wanting, and this is happening all over Asia.”
Whilst the middle classes in India have the necessary income to be able to afford a PC, most of the rest of the population would struggle to purchase such an expensive piece of equipment. This may provide some barrier to growth although in Japan and Korea the development of the 3G network will go some way to circumvent the problem.
