Global use of the Internet is constantly increasing, because the Internet is one of the fundamental infrastructures of the world. Until the very end of the 1990s, however, most of the worldís governments more or less ignored the Internet, including the management of their countryís top level domain.

Global trends indicate that traditional television services are not dead, but audiences are increasingly demanding news and other broadcasts when they wish to watch them, not when the TV channels wish to broadcast them. The digital revolution of the last several years has opened up much greater opportunities for those companies which wish to prepare and transmit information digitally. An American media industry consultant, Merrill Brown, has this to say about this process: �It's hard to believe that in 2010, those who are 18 to 34 years old today, will be watching news other than with digital equipment. They demand news on the phone, on the computer, in the car and through a series of equipment that was unimaginable in the context of television in the past.� The fact is, however, that the most serious challenge for traditional television today is created by Internet television and mobile television � there are not yet any television sets in automobiles or refrigerators.

October 25, 2005 � that is the day when WiMAX services took off in Tallinn. With the flip of a switch, Estonia became the first Baltic country to launch a wireless broadband Internet area. With others poised to follow, the dream of a pan-Baltic WiMAX area will soon be realised.

The benefits of the EU's internal market for the citizens and businesses of Europe have been widely recognised. Europeans are free to live, study, work or retire anywhere in the EU, consumers are offered a wider range of products, and businesses are increasingly reaching out to more and more remote markets. On the other hand, management of the EU�s internal market means that national governments face an increased need to exchange information amongst themselves, with the European Commission and with other institutions and agencies within the EU.

Broadband Internet has become a powerful accelerator for many development processes. There is a strong correlation between the level of broadband use on the one hand and economic, social and political growth on the other. There are major differences among various countries, even within the EU, but in total the status quo remains quite inadequate when it comes to the demands of knowledge-based development. The Baltic States are not among the leaders in this field. In this article, the author offers recommendations on how to develop network access, availability of services, the skills of users, and the security of transactions.

The Tunis Summit of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which took place in November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia, culminated 4 years of continuous engagement of Governments and other stakeholders in reflection on and discussion of issues related to the further development of the information society in all parts of the world. It was the first time that many of the themes and issues were discussed in an official forum and at a global level.

In this article, the author analyses the situation in Latvia's Internet market � user numbers, types of connections, spread of broadband services, use of Internet banking services, and Internet service providers.

While companies all over the world fight over who can speed up Internet services the most, new records are being set � gigabytes of information can now be transmitted from one continent to another in mere seconds. In Latvia, by comparison, there has been healthy pragmatism in the field of business data transmission networks. The successful �Baltic Network� project offers a chance for businesspeople in five countries to reduce telecoms costs by as much as eight times over. These are countries which operate in the Baltic and Scandinavian region.

Last year this magazine published information about the situation with WiFi services in Estonia, reporting that WiFi areas were being organised at petrol stations in the country. Today, the number of petrol stations which offer the services has increased significantly. This time we look at new trends in the use of WiFi services in Estonia and abroad.

The state-owned Latvenergo company in Latvia predominantly offers electricity services, but beginning in 2003, the company expanded into the telecommunications sector, where it plans to offer services mostly to corporate clients in newly emerging segments. The company is looking at newly built housing villages, new office buildings, etc. It is not hoping to tempt away the clients of other companies, including the former fixed telecommunications monopolist Lattelekom.