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One-man show turns into international p... How to stop the Millennium Bomb tickin... Putting the fun back into accountin... Rich North American market next targe... Payroll package to suit everyon... Information highway shifts into overdri... Legal minefield in cyberspac... Casualties likely in battle for contro... Get the right anti-virus prescriptio... |
Information highway shifts into overdriveDespite some growth pains, the Internet became truly mainstream in 1997. GREG GORDON reports on this booming industry
THIS year South Africa's Internet industry was characterised by a spat between Telkom and Internet service providers, a standards war between modem manufacturers, a flood of Internet-borne computer viruses and the establishment of the country's big four banks' Internet banking services. The dispute between Telkom and Internet service providers is still not settled nearly a year after it began. Now the parastatal has rounded on the SA Telecommunications Authority, the body it wooed to rule in its bid to become the exclusive provider of Internet access. This was after it spurned a Competition Board investigation into its activities. The dispute moves to court this week but resolution of the issue could take months, or even years. It is now a year since the first South African bank opened for business on the Internet. Take-up has been slow by consumers - none of the big four has more than 10 000 on-line customers - but the cost benefits are substantially lower than rolling out branches in areas where people do not currently have access to them. For consumers it is a safe, convenient and cheap way to bank. Absa Bank was the first to offer limited transactions on-line late last year and was followed by Nedbank, which offered a fuller service early this year. By July, Standard Bank and First National Bank had added their working sites to the Web and in August the newest player, Mercantile Bank, joined the on-line banking community. Retailer Pick 'n Pay says its Internet banking Web site will go live before year-end. A perceived lack of security is still hampering accelerated take-up of Internet banking services. On the hardware front 1997 saw the introduction of 56 000bps modem technology (around twice as fast as anything available before), but a standards war between manufacturers left users uncertain. Consumers have to choose between US Robotics's X2 or Rockwells's K56 technology - and service providers are split down the middle over which they support. The two are incompatible at high speed.
New computer viruses appeared this year that are able to subtly corrupt data on a PC without the user knowing it. The crippling effect on business has been downplayed by companies not wanting to advertise the fact that they have been hit, but anti-virus software companies report strong sales. Most computer viruses are now delivered via the Internet.
In the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft, anti-monopoly charges have resurfaced against Microsoft, which is steadily chewing away at Netscape's market share, although it remains the number one browser. Both companies released significantly improved versions of their software this year and both products make use of "push" technology, which allows content providers to "narrowcast" news and information to subscribers. Perhaps the most significant trend this year, however, was how the Internet has reached the international mainstream. Judge Hiller Zobel's decision on the appeal of convicted murderer Louise Woodward was due to be published on the Internet before it was released anywhere else. But a power failure put paid to that scheme. Ouch!
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