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European ICT market growing steadily
The market for information technology and telecommunications (ICT) in the EU will increase in 2007 by 2.9 percent to 668 billion Euro. “The European ICT industry continues to grow steadily, with IT services, software applications and broadband data services as the main drivers”, commented EITO Chair Bruno Lamborghini on the basis of the latest study of the European Information Technology Observatory - EITO, presented today in Brussels. In 2008 the European ICT market should again grow by around 2.9 percent, to 687 billion Euro.
Welcoming the report, the European Commission's Director General for Information Society and Media, Fabio Colasanti, stated: “The ICT sector remains one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy, with higher than average growth rates and research intensity. The study shows that the first signs of fundamental change are appearing as Europe moves towards a knowledge-based economy. The EU's 7th Framework programme for research, the current review of the regulatory framework for electronic communications and the i2010 initiative for a European Information Society are all designed to support continued growth in this area.”
The EITO 2007 report shows that Information technology (IT) is proving to be a reliable source of growth: the companies involved are turning 320 billion Euro this year. This represents an increase of 4.4 percent. Above all, software and IT services are booming – with increases of 6.5 and 5.5 percent respectively. There is strong demand for professional IT services like outsourcing, consulting and system integration. “We are expecting similarly high rates of growth next year”, says Lamborghini. The hardware market is also recovering: it is expected to grow by 1.7 percent in 2007 and in 2008 by 2.2 percent. Above all, notebooks and multi-function peripherals are creating an increase in demand while the market for desktop PCs is shrinking. For 2008, the EITO experts are expecting an overall market value in IT of 335 billion Euro (plus 4.7 percent).
Growth in the EU telecommunications market is lower than in IT. Here the market in the EU is increasing this year by 1.5 percent to 348 billion Euro and in the coming year by 1.1 percent to 352 billion Euro. With plus 6.4 percent, above all fixed data services such as DSL are currently experiencing a boom.
Mobile data services are also increasingly in demand. At the same time, the EU market for fixed voice telephone services is shrinking by around five percent a year. New value-added services must now provide revenue growth. Besides data and Internet services, Third Generation (3G) mobile traffic and mobile Internet access are increasingly popular. User-generated Web 2.0 applications and content are opening up new relevant opportunities.
