• The number of Internet users worldwide is expected to grow to 300 million by 2005, from roughly 150 million currently, according to an estimate by Datamonitor PLC.
  
  
• The greatest growth will be in Asia and South America.
  
  
• The number of online users will rise 61 per cent to 95 million in the US, more than double to 88 million in Europe and quadruple to 118 million in the rest of the world.
  
  
• The use of audio and video applications on the Internet, such as telephone calls and playing of music, is expected to triple to six per cent of overall Internet traffic by 2003.
  
  
• The cost of transferring one terabyte of data (equivalent of 25 000 music CDs) will drop to under $300 (US) by 2003, compared with $80 000 (US) in 1998.

Source: Datamonitor PLC, cited in The Financial Post, March 1,1999.