<<Survey Predicts Boom for European Internet
LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's Internet economy is set to break the $1 trillion barrier within four years, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 87 percent, the Gartner research agency said on Thursday.
It said the European industry -- hardware and telecoms infrastructure, software and services, e-commerce and intermediaries such as content providers -- was worth $53 billion today, with Germany accounting for half of that.
Gartner predicted France would grow fastest, followed by Germany, Italy and then Britain. E-commerce in particular would grow fastest in the Dutch, Swedish and Swiss markets.
In eastern Europe, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia were the leaders but the report said they were being held back by the lack of an effective regulatory regime.
In the Middle East, it said entrepreneurial spirit was driving awareness and dot-com activity in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and, perhaps more surprisingly, Syria.
The report, commissioned by a major Internet company, was based on interviews with more than 800 company managers.
Other research has put the value for the sector in 2004 at up to twice that -- up to $1.9 trillion -- though surveys vary widely in what types of business they include. >> |
