African ICT market research company BMI-TechKnowledge says the Internet non-access services market is expected to grow from 12% of the total IT services market in 2001 to 18% in 2006, opening up a host of opportunities for vendors.
BMI-T`s South African Internet Services Market Report 2001-2006 says consolidation that has already taken place in the Internet services market will continue, especially in the non-access services space.
"It is increasingly likely that mainstream IT companies will provide these services as part of their basic offering, threatening those Internet services companies that do not have a broader offering," says BMI-T analyst and report co-author Mark Rotter.
BMI-T believes the Internet services market has fundamentally changed over the last 18 months and has become part of the mainstream IT market. "The fact is that the Internet is becoming more important to companies across the board as they seek standards to simplify internal processes."
Highlighting growth areas, Rotter says niche technology segments such as asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL) and general packet radio service (GPRS) are the only technologies likely to experience strong growth in the near term with both growing from a small base.
Broadband and low-cost access technologies such as ADSL and GPRS and other wireless technologies based on wireless LAN are becoming increasingly popular in Europe and the US, and several projects being implemented in SA are exhibiting this same trend.
"South African companies are looking for more than `templatised` approaches to return on investment and total cost of ownership, which indicates that partnerships with business consulting or business service companies may be useful," says Rotter.
"The provision of high value-add services such as management and security, either directly or in partnership, especially for the larger corporate clients, will be key. Most notable, however, is the fact that the number of dial-up Internet subscribers in 2001 was around 850 000 and we expect this to grow to 1.3 million by 2006, representing compound annual growth of 9% and illustrating the increased opportunities for vendors and service providers within the South African Internet arena."
Share
