Telecommunication traffic: global disparities and international flows

Abstract

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) have shrunk geographical space and time more than ever. But do people fully use the opportunities provided by the newest ICTs? How intensively do they communicate with each other on the international level? And what are the global disparities in the level of telecommunicativeness and international communicative openness? To answer these questions a study of global telecommunication traffic and the specificity of its spatial organisation has been undertaken based on the official statistics on different types of ICT traffic (postal service, fixed telephone, mobile phone and the Internet) over the last two decades. Indicators in the sphere of telecommunicativeness and international communicative openness are presented. This study expands the understanding of international integration and globalisation processes in their communication aspects.