CHINA GEARS UP FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION - The sale of an online education
platform to China for 80 million yuan ($9.67 million) is expected to increase distance
education popularity in the country, stated a Hunan University expert. The sale marks the
first multimedia platform to be sold in China since the initiative for distance education began
in 1998. According to the developers, the education platform allows Internet users to access
interactive, multimedia education by combining IT and multimedia systems. (Xinhua News
Agency, 11 Oct 01)

INTERNATIONAL INTERNET BANDWIDTH GROWS BY 174 PERCENT
BETWEEN 2000 AND 2001 - Internet bandwidth, the capacity of the global Internet to
deliver the kind of Web and multimedia information required by online courses, grew by
174 percent during the past year, according to a new study by TeleGeography, Inc., a
Washington, DC research group. Although down from last year's peak growth rate of 382
percent, the study shows that Internet capacity is still expanding despite the global economic
downturn. Regionally, growth was uneven, with Latin America realizing 480 percent
bandwidth expansion as it gained access to two new ultra-high-speed submarine cable
systems. US bandwidth grew by 144.3 percent, with Asia coming next at 129.3 percent,
Europe at 109.8 percent and Africa at 89.6 percent. Although the US still remains the
Internet's main hub, with more than 80 percent of international Internet capacity in Asia,
Africa and South America connected directly to a US city, TeleGeography reports that
the global proliferation of new cable systems is making the world progressively less
dependent on the United States. Read more on the TeleGeography website at:
http://www.telegeography.com/Whatsnew/pg02_press1.html (E-News from UCEA #48,
12 Oct 01)