Ranks of Web Users and Internet Traffic Grow

Ukraine has recently seen a substantial increase in the number of Internet surfers. As suggested by data from a poll conducted by GfKUSM company, 6.4% of the population or 3.1 million Ukrainians actively use the Web. The largest group, 37% of users, have Internet access at work, 22% at home, and 21% access the Web from Internet cafes or libraries. At the same time, according to Ukraine’s State Committee for Communications and Informatization, in 2002 alone the number of Internet users rose by 2.5 times to 2.5 million or 5% of Ukraine’s population. Nearly 400 Internet access providers are registered in Ukraine. In August, their aggregate profit was UAH 59,837,000,000, up 17.6% from July.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, the volume of data traffic that passes via the network of the Ukrainian Traffic Exchange Network (UA-IX), a subsidiary of Ukraine’s Internet Association, exceeded 240 megabytes per second as of mid-August, which is 1.6 times up from the same period last year. According to providers, Kyiv-based Internet resources generate up to 90% of all data traffic. Meanwhile, many regional Internet resources are located at servers in Kyiv, since the majority of Ukraine’s Web users are concentrated in the capital.