Digital Comrades

Not that the question has been keeping me up at night, but how is the Russian Digital Citizen faring these days?

Well, according to a very informative blog by Gregory Asmolov on Global Voices the Russian Internet inroads show no sign of slowing down.

A Gfk Group reports that the number of Russian families that now have Internet access have significantly increased over recent years. Currently, every third Russian family browses the Web. Of course, Moscow has the biggest Internet penetration rate of 52 percent while the Russian Far East region has the lowest penetration rate of 21 percent.

The report further says that for 72 percent of Russians the current economical crisis has had little or not effect on the level of their Internet usage.  Also, according to the same report, 46 percent of Russian Internet users access via their hand-held devices. Not surprisingly, the majority--as in 81 percent--of those users consists of 16-19 years olds.

According to an ACM-Consulting report, the number of Runet (the Russian Internet) users with broadband access rose by 36 percent in 2009, from 8.3 to 11.3 millions. As a result, the size of Russian broadband market increased by 60 percents during last year and it is currently estimated at $2.7 billion.

According to Russian newspapers "Vedomosty," telecommunication experts predict that in 2010 the broadband market will primarily develop in Russian regions, since three quarters of Moscow Internet users already have high-speed access. Consequently, Internet providers will focus more on smaller cities.

However, when you compare major cities--such as Moscow and St. Petersburg--with the Russian regions, a substantial digital divide still exists. For example, the average Moscow Internet access speed in Moscow and St. Petersburg is about seven Мbps, compared to an average of 410 kbps in other large cities. This divide, to a large extent, reflects the price policies of Internet providers, with the cost of regional Internet services in largely exceeding that of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Most likely, with renewed focus by Internet providers on the Russian regions (since Moscow and St. Petersburg is nearing saturation point), the broadband prices will drop in the regions, and the divide will close, both as to percentage of users and access speed.

As I said, it hasn't kept me up at night--I usually sleep very well after a few chapters of Dostoevsky--but I am surprised that broadband Internet has indeed made such inroads in Russia.

We truly are becoming a global, digital village, albeit a huge one.