The index forms part of a report entitled
Internet for a Mobile Generation and measures the performance of over 200 economies, ranking them by 26 different criteria related to infrastructure (50% of the total weight), usage (25%) and market structure (25%).
Hong Kong and Denmark topped the table with 65.88 and 65.61 out of 100 respectively. The United States ranked fifth on 65.04 with the UK three places back on exactly 63 points. Other pacesetters include South Korea (63.42), Germany (55.53) and Japan (54.94).
| Top Twenty Mobile/Internet Index Rankings |
| |
|
|
| Ranking |
Economy |
Mobile/Internet Score (/100) |
| 1 |
Hong Kong |
65.88 |
| 2 |
Denmark |
65.61 |
| 3 |
Sweden |
65.42 |
| 4 |
Switzerland |
65.10 |
| 5 |
USA |
65.04 |
| 6 |
Norway |
64.67 |
| 7 |
South Korea |
63.42 |
| 8 |
UK |
63.00 |
| 9 |
Netherlands |
62.25 |
| 10 |
Iceland |
62.03 |
| 11 |
Canada |
61.97 |
| 12 |
Finland |
61.22 |
| 13 |
Singapore |
60.58 |
| 14 |
Luxembourg |
58.58 |
| 15 |
Belgium |
57.80 |
| 16 |
Austria |
57.72 |
| 17 |
Germany |
55.53 |
| 18 |
Australia |
55.40 |
| 19 |
Portugal |
55.13 |
| 20 |
Japan |
54.94 |
| Source: International Telecommunication Union, September 2002 |
Developing the mobile Internet “Individually, mobile communications and the Internet have been the two major drivers of consumer demand for telecommunication services in the last decade of the twentieth century. Put them together and you should have one of the major demand drivers of this century,” said Dr Tim Kelly, Head of ITUÂ’s Strategy and Policy Unit.
However, he admitted that while it takes “no great leap of imagination to believe that the convergence of mobile communications and the Internet will produce something big, it may take longer than we think.”
The report claimed that the timely deployment of 3G networks, the distribution of affordable and adequate internet-enabled handsets and unrestricted and non-proprietary mobile internet content are all crucial to the future development of the sector. Teenage mobile owners are already driving the fledgling market and are regarded by advertisers as the most profitable users.
Nonetheless, the ITU concedes that substantial investment is required if the telecoms industry is to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the mobile Internet. An impasse has developed because investors want indisputable evidence that there is a market for the services but operators cannot provide this until they have built the required networks.
