The document discusses ICT trends in Slovenia and surrounding regions from 2000-2006. It finds that while Slovenia initially had a larger gap in internet penetration compared to the EU, this gap closed by 2006 as purchasing power increased. Other countries in the region like Croatia lagged roughly 2 years behind Slovenia. The key gaps appear due to differences in purchasing power, but can be temporary as purchasing power thresholds are met. For the region to enable an ICT boom, proper infrastructure like competitive broadband supply is needed, as lack of infrastructure and supply have inhibited penetration rates.

1. ICT Trends in the Region Uroš Cvetko CATI d.o.o. Portorož, November 7 th 2006

2. Early in this decade the ICT gap between EU and Slovenia seemed to be growing Internet penetration EU vs. Slovenia Percentage of monthly users

3. However, the gap was closed by 2006 Internet penetration EU vs. Slovenia and Baltic states Percentage of monthly users Hypothesis : The temporary gap appeared due to difference in purchasing power

4. Similarly, today Croatia lags roughly 2 years behind Slovenia Internet penetration EU vs. Slovenia vs. Croatia Percentage of monthly users

5. … and other regional market s lag 4-5 year behind Slovenia Internet penetration EU vs. Slovenia vs. other countries in the region Percentage of monthly users

7. The differences in fixed line penetration are relatively small Fixed line telephone penetration Percentage of households with fixed line telephone, Q2 2006 source: PGM (www.pgmconsult.net)

8. The differences in fixed line penetration are relatively small DSL 1MB entry level (incumbent) Price in EUR source: Incumbent web pages

9. The gaps increase with PC penetration PC penetration Percentage of households with PC, Q2 2006 source: PGM (www.pgmconsult.net)

10. But the real difference lies in broadband penetration Broadband penetration Percentage of households with broadband, Q2 2006 Hypothesis : The gap is caused both by a lack of demand (low purchasing power) and a lack of competitive supply source: PGM (www.pgmconsult.net)

11. G ap is even larger when we consider quality of internet usage Frequency of internet usage in the region Percentage internet users source: PGM (www.pgmconsult.net)

12. As an illustration, almost ¼ of Slovene internet users are constantly online during the day Internet users online by hour Percentage of all users source: PGM (www.pgmconsult.net)

14. Word of caution for developing services Share of employed population who are interested (“very” or “somewhat”) in at least one type of telework source: SIBIS (www.sibis-eu.org) EXAMPLE: Interest for teleworking Share of employed population who are interested in at least one type of telework

15. With lack of appropriate marketing actual usage of services can be much lower than consideration source: SIBIS (www.sibis-eu.org) EXAMPLE: Actual usage of teleworking* Share of employed population who are teleworking

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