Statistics for the information age

The rapid changes in the telecommunications sector shorten the useful lifespan of many of the established telecommunications traffic indicators, creating the need for constant re-assessment and improvement of existing indicators and the development of new ones. This paper first reviews two prominent publications by TeleGeography, Inc. that provide telecommunications traffic and Internet statistics. It then lists other data sources and discusses several prominent measurement efforts that highlight the need for internationally agreed upon measurement standards. Finally, it is pointed out that many of the economic and social statistics that are needed to help interpret the impact of the information revolution, as well as the techniques used to analyse them, are also in dire need of improvement. * Tel.: +64 6 350 5799 ext. 5968; fax: +64 6 350 5660; E-mail address: [email protected]. The author thanks TeleGeography Inc. for providing copies of TeleGeography 2000 and 2001, and Hubs and Spokes. All web addresses cited below were last checked on 21 February 2001.