internet - The growth stagnates: 103 million users

According to figures from June, China has now 103 million internet users of whom 53 million use broadband, mostly ADSL. The figures were quoted from the 16th survey of the CNNIC, the most reliable sources for this kind of macro figures.
While still impressive, it shows the slowing growth of the past two years continues. By using its relative backward position ten years ago, China could expand its cheap broadband access faster compared to Europe, where the relatively expensive ISDN-technology forced the telecommunication companies to earn that investment back first.
China might in de decade to come have lost its relative advantage, as peer-to-peer solutions emerge to deal with ongoing shortages in capacity. Uploading through ADSL goes rather slow, compared to downloading, hindering peer-to-peer solutions on a massive scale.