1. How Global is the Global
Internet?
The Myth of the Global Internet
Symposium - ECREA VUB
luciano.morganti@vub.ac.be
IBBT SMIT studies on media, information and telecommunication

2. Aims of the Presentation
• To have an insight about the real “globality” of
the Global Internet and to share some points for
further reflection
• To start mapping the complexity of the
political economy of the Net by:
– Undergoing a first technical actors analysis
– Observing Paths of content production and
consumption
– Assessing what regions and cultures are developing
into important Net players
Titel van de presentatie
10/10/2007 | pag. 2
IBBT SMIT studies on media, information and telecommunication

3. Critical Questions I
• How global is a global medium if the
infrastructure of connectivity is unevenly
distributed and no healthy competition exists
amongst infrastructure providers, web
software and hardware vendors?
• How global is the Global Internet if its content
production and consumption and its cultural-
linguistic soul is dominated by three or four
major countries?
Titel van de presentatie
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4. Critical Questions II
• How global is the Global Internet if the main
tools for retrieving information are a small set
of shareholder-driven enterprises?
Titel van de presentatie
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5. Structure of the Presentation
1) Geography and topology of the Net
2) Net (Technical) Players
3) Users, Language and Content
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6. Topology & Geography of the
Global Net I
The Internet
• Packets switching
• TCP/IP --> network of networks
• Root Nameservers, Routers, Nameservers, Backbones,
IXPs, and ISPs
• Internet protocols: IPv4 (232) and IPv6(2128)
• gTLDs and CC
• Client - server architecture
The Web
• Client - server
• Web browser
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7. Topology & Geography of the
Global Net II
Internet = Scale Free Network
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8. Topology & Geography of the
Global Net III
Central Core t
In c
ont nt inen
inen Ou t co
t
Tubes
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9. Net Players I
Web Server Software
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10. Net Players II
• Web Browser Software/OS Platform
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11. Net Players III
• Internet Heavyweights
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12. Net Players IV
Net heavyweights key partnerships
Companies Partnership Description
Google - AOL Search engine, video, instant messaging
MSN - Yahoo! IM interoperability
Yahoo! - SBC - Cingular MVNO
MSN - Vodafone IM interoperability
Skype - E-Plus Wireless VoIP
iTunes - Cingular Mobile Music service
Google -SUN Google Toolbar
Yahoo! - BellSouth DSL Portal
Google - T-Mobile Mobile Internet
Google - Opera Mobile Search
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13. Users, Languages &
Content I
Internet Penetration
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14. Users, Languages &
Content II
Top 30 Highest Internet Penetration Rate
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15. Users, Languages &
Content III
Top 20 Highest Number Internet Users
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16. Users, Languages &
Content IV
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17. Users, Languages &
Content V
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18. Users, Languages &
Content VI
Internet Traffic report
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19. Users, Languages &
Content VII
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20. Users, Languages &
Content VIII
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21. Users, Languages &
Content IX
Web Content by Language
English 68.4%
Japanese 5.9%
German 5.8%
Chinese 3.9%
French 3.0%
Spanish 2.4%
Russian 1.9%
Italian 1.6%
Portuguese 1.4%
Korean 1.3%
Other 4.6%
Total Web pages: 313 B
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22. Users, Languages &
Content X
Internet Consumption Quotient
GLOBAL PRESENCE
STRONG WEAK STRONG WEAK
Export Enclaves Content Global Traders Internet Islands
Consumers
Costa Rica Bolivia Argentina Australia
Ecuador Chile Austria China
Egypt Colombia Belgium Finland
Haiti Estonia Brazil Iceland
India Hungary Canada Israel
Indonesia Japan Czech Republic Mexico
Jordan Malaysia Denmark Norway
Kenya Morocco France Portugal
Paraguay Philippines Germany Russia
Peru Poland Greece South Korea
Saudi Arabia Singapore Ireland Sweden
Thailand Slovakia Italy
United Arab Emirates Spain Netherlands
Sri Lanka New Zealand
Viet Nam South Africa
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Venezuela
WEAK WEAK STRONG STRONG
DOMESTIC PRESENCE
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23. Users, Languages &
Content XI
Top 20 Countries in terms of CONE an CC Domains
July 1998 January 2001
Country % of Per % of Per
World Capita World Capita
United States 49.2 6.08 42.3 52.68
United Kingdom 7.0 3.93 12.4 69.76
Germany 7.6 3.05 10.3 41.70
Canada 4.9 5.32 3.5 38.06
South Korea 0.8 0.57 3.3 24.06
Netherlands 1.9 4.07 2.4 51.24
Italy 1.8 1.01 2.1 12.08
France 2.0 1.11 2.0 11.60
Japan 1.9 0.48 1.8 4.65
Brazil 2.1 0.43 1.3 2.71
Australia 1.0 1.78 1.3 23.78
Argentina 0.2 0.17 1.1 10.78
China 0.7 0.02 1.1 0.30
Spain 1.0 0.80 1.1 8.93
Denmark 2.0 12.30 0.9 55.97
India 0.3 0.01 0.9 0.31
Switzerland 2.2 10.00 0.7 35.03
Austria 0.7 2.98 0.7 28.01
Sweden 1.9 7.02 0.6 23.90
Hong Kong, China 0.6 3.35 0.6 29.87
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24. Users, Languages &
Content XII
Number of CONE and CC Domains per 1000 Population
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25. Users, Languages &
Content XIII
Nielsen/NetRating (2004):
Top 5 search destinations =
Google, Yahoo!, MSN Search,
AOL Search, Ask Jeeves
Most of them use the same, often 3rd party, search
tool:
Inktomi & LookSmart
and/or show cross-similar results
Titel van de presentatie
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26. Critical Questions I
• How global is a global medium if the infrastructure
of connectivity is unevenly distributed and no healthy
competition exists amongst infrastructure providers,
web software and hardware vendors?
• How global is the Global Internet if its content
production and consumption and its cultural-
linguistic soul is dominated by three or four major
countries?
Titel van de presentatie
10/10/2007 | pag. 26

27. Critical Questions II
• How global is the Global Internet if the main
tools for retrieving information are a small set
of shareholder-driven enterprises?
Titel van de presentatie
10/10/2007 | pag. 27