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The Net profit

  • 14/01/1998

The Net profit electronic commerce is the ultimate entrepreneurial vehicle, used by individuals the worldover, from artists in New Mexico to rug weavers in Morocco to basket makers in Botswana.

Moreover, the Internet has created new avenues of communication for those who have encountered high entry barriers in traditional media. One of the reasons is the easier access for content providers and thus content wanted by users.

A recent survey by Target Market News in the us found that compared with white households, African Americans spent more than two-and-a-half times more for on line services this past year, because these services are more valuable to the community.

No communications medium has ever grown so fast. No one has accurately predicted this growth. No one I know predicted three years ago that 82 million personal computers would access the Internet by the end of this year, with the business market leading this drive. Or that 2,700,000 million e -mails would be sent by the end of 1997. Or that by the end of 1996, 80 per cent of Fortune 500 firms would have a website.

In 1996, when 85 per cent of the on-line advertisements were computer or high-tech-oriented, no one I know predicted that 80 per cent of would be aimed at the general consumer market in 1997. In 1995, no one that I know foresaw that investors would be managing over $100,000 million in on-line investments in 1997.

Three years ago, no one predicted that "real audio' would be audio to the Net in '95 or video to the Net in '96, or that in '97 "Real Network' would for the first time deliver audio and video to broadcast-size audiences over the Net.

Who predicted three years ago when Internet telephony was a hobby that by 1998 Internet telephony would become a serious competitor to traditional long-distance telephony service, and that Internet telephony-related stocks would be among the hottest stocks on the market?

The value of the Internet as the medium for electronic commerce is no longer in doubt. Forrester Research estimates a $327,000 million value for goods and services traded over the Internet within the next five years. A study by International Data Corp. found that almost half (46.4 per cent) of us companies are planning to, or already offer their customers the opportunity to purchase their products over the Internet.

Already Internet users have generated a software and services market predicted to bring in $12,200 million in revenue in 1997, up 60 per cent from $7,500 million 1996. input , a technology market intelligence firm, is forecasting that worldwide sales of goods and services through cd-rom catalogues, on-line storefronts, and Internet malls will grow from $700 million in 1995 to $230,000 million by 2000, a compound growth rate of more than 200 per cent.

Governments must respect the unique nature of networked communications and recognise that widespread competition and increased consumer choice

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