Given statistics like these, it is hard to believe that the internet was once perceived as likely to be a great equaliser.
A survey from the forum of world business and political leaders in Davos last year showed that business leaders fear the internet will only widen the gap between industrialised and developing nations.
The same leaders meet again between the 25 and 31 January and top of their agenda will be discussions on how to bridge that divide.
Out in the cold
About half of those surveyed last year at the Davos conference - organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) - said the internet would create a new world of haves and have nots.
The WEF set up a Global Digital Divide Task Force, which is working with the G8 Digital opportunities Task Force set up after Okinawa last year.
Now at this year's Davos forum, Cisco chief executive John Chambers and Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina will take part in a panel, which looks at practical measures to bridge the divide.
Since last year, it is unclear what progress has been made, though the digital divide has remained a hot topic worldwide.
To have or have not
The "digital divide" refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas with regard to access to the internet and use of the internet.
The more cash you earn and the more educated you are, the more likely you are to have access to the internet, says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Factors such as age, gender, race, linguistic background and location also play a part, according to the OECD.
The number of internet hosts in each country - the companies that run the servers that provide web pages - is one way of measuring the divide.
By this measure the digital divide is widening, as internet hosts are multiplying in the US, compared to their slow rate of growth in, for example, Africa, says the OECD.
Exclusion
Even if telecoms lines were in place, most of the world's poor would still be excluded from the internet revolution because of illiteracy and lack of basic computer skills.
Some campaigners argue that cancelling third world debt and ensuring the provision of basic services such as electricity or water are greater priorities than ensuring access to the web.
However, access to the internet may help resolve some of these problems, by acting as an educational tool or a diseminator of information.
Offering cheap internet access in libraries and post offices may be one way of increasing familiarity with the net.
The OECD argues that, in some countries, the television may provide one way of bridging the divide.
As a relatively cheap household appliance, it says, interactive television services could bring the internet to low-access groups, such as the elderly.
Project India
India, one of the world's poorest countries and simultaneously a global IT power, is thought to lead the world in actual on-the-ground projects.
The aim is that the internet will make it easier for people in remote parts of the country to access information, allowing them to do everything from apply for driving licences as well as find out about pension plans online.
Still, of India's one billion people, only 4.3 million have personal computers while only 26 million own fixed phones.
IT for the common man
"Information technology has transformed our international image from being a land of elephants and snake charmers to a land of competent engineers," Azim Premji, head of the info-tech giant Wipro, has said.
"In five years, it could transform the country," Premji said.
But, one of the first lessons to emerge from the Indian experience is "that a flowering IT industry is not equivalent to IT for the common man", Kenneth Keniston, a director of projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said.
But Clarence Chandran, the Indian-born chief operating officer of Nortel Networks, has said. "Traditional devices like PCs might not be a solution. We need places where communities can access the internet."
Developed divide
While most talk of a digital divide centres on the gulf between developed and developing countries, fear also exists of a divide between rich and poor in developed countries.
It was this fear which prompted some of the worried consumer reaction to the AOL and Time Warner merger in the US.
The poor and minorities could have even less access to computers and technical training if the internet was to become more expensive, these groups argued.
This divide is not just confined to the US.
In France for example, the highest income bracket has 74% PC penetration last year while the lowest income bracket had only 11%, according to the OECD.