Report on the internet economy – Summary (Summary for the press)
2004. 11. 19.
GKIeNET Inc. and T-Mobile Hungary, in association with Sun Microsystems Hungary, conduct quarterly surveys on corporate internet usage and the development of the electronic economy in Hungary. The present report outlines the position of the corporate sector in the internet economy.
SURVEY FINDINGS
In the category of businesses with five or more employees, internet penetration increased from 72% to 77% during the period between June 2003 and March 2004. There was no change in the segment of large corporations due to the full saturation (99%); the bulk of the growth took place in the segments of small and medium-sized companies. In the category of micro-businesses with five to nine employees, internet penetration was up five percentage points to 72%. The number of small businesses with internet access rose to 77% in the segment of firms with 10-19 employees and to 84% in the category of companies with 20-49 employees. Internet penetration in the category of medium-sized companies (50-250 workers) has remained flat at 90% for over a year.
Broadband connection clearly gained momentum in the category of companies with internet access. As low as one-fourth of these companies use analogue modems to access the internet, while ISDN connection is still widely used (37%).
At the same time, the same percentage of companies use DSL connections, which have seen the fastest growth over the recent period. In the first quarter of 2004, 7% of companies with internet access used leased lines, while 6% had internet connection via cable TV.
4% of the companies under study access the internet via satellite or microwave, while 2% use mobile phones to access the web.
Over the course of 2003, 16% of the companies with internet access (12% of all companies) sold products or services online. Large corporations tended to fall below the average, with 9% reporting online sales activities in 2003.
More companies have made internet purchases than online sales last year. On average, 20% of the companies with internet access (15% of all businesses) made online purchases in 2003. Large corporations were more active than the average in this respect: 26% of the firms with over 250 employees purchased goods or services over the internet.
ABOUT THE SURVEY
The survey was conducted on March 2004 via telephone in a representative sample of 1000 firms. The target group included companies with five or more employees. The survey covered the entire area of Hungary and all sectors of the economy.