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Report praises Brazil

UN report praises initiative to disseminate the Internet in Brazil, which it includes on the list of countries that have made "outstanding progress."

The study highlights the creation of the National Research Network (RNP) in 1989, "aimed at planning and coordinating the dissemination of the network at academic institutions." As in the US, the Internet in Brazil began as a government endeavor.

The RNP backbone (main physical networking structures or great material Internet communications systems) was the first to be commercially activated in the nation. According to the UN survey, almost all universities and research centers in Brazil had been linked by 1995 and were offering services to 150 thousand users. Over the ensuing five years, this number had grown to over seven million. There are currently approximately 200 thousand servers throughout the nation.

The survey stated that eight out of every ten Brazilians submitted their Income Tax declarations this year over the Internet. The report further commended the project related to the information society launched at the end of last year by the Ministry of Science and Technology, with a US$1.7 billion budget for the period 2000-2003. Current projects such as the link between all public libraries and the creation of community centers with access to the Internet were highly acclaimed as well.

The study considers the recommendation made by the Internet Steering Committee/BR of standards and technical and operational procedures for the network a major step. Likewise, it has defined the incentives for development of services on the Internet in Brazil and the coordination of address distribution on the Internet, the registration of sites and the backbone link as comprising its major attributions.

Ibope Survey

The 7th Internet Pop, the most extensive Internet study conducted throughout the country, shows that the Internet has once again begun to grow at a slow pace nationwide, after its earlier boom at the beginning of the year when free access was announced.

The study, conducted among 15 million people from May 15 to 28, shows a major concentration of net surfers - 4.8 million - in nine major metropolitan regions throughout the nation. From February to May the number of net surfers grew from 12% to 13% of the population in the regions under study where a total of roughly 38 million people reside.

From December to February the institute had noted the arrival of 1.2 million net surfers to the Brazilian marketplace.

Another fact revealed in the survey may dismay investors in Internet companies, as it portrays the ineffectual performance of electronic commerce in Brazil. Only 14% of the net surfers interviewed claim to have made purchases through the network.

[RNP, 06.27.2000]