Mobile Communications Spurs IT Growth in Europe
In 1998, the European telecommunications market climbed 6.7%. But it paled in comparison to mobile telephone services, which shot up 28%, according to a study by the European Information Technology Observatory.
As one of the biggest customers, trucking accounts for some of the mobile market’s fast pace. Companies use the technology for everything from talking with drivers to monitoring the status of a shipment.
With more innovations, more bandwidths and more cost-cutting, mobile systems are expected to expand more rapidly than other technology sectors, said Bernhard Rohleder, managing director of the information observatory.
The study notes that the two sectors will generate almost half a trillion dollars in business over the next three years in Europe, growing from $447 billion in 1998 to $493 billion by 2001. The sectors also will account for one out of every three dollars spent around the world for these services.
Growth in mobile communications alone is expected to top 17% in 1999, the EITO predicted.
The IT market will achieve “a splendid finish to the 1990s,” Rohleder said.
In 1998, information technology spending reached $240 billion in Europe. Spending on IT equipment and services has grown at an annual rate of 9.5% this decade in Europe, slightly faster than the 8.7% growth rate in the United States.
Still, the U.S. accounted for about 36% of the spending in the global information technology and telecommunications markets last year. Europe came in second with 30%; Japan was third with 11%; and the rest of the world accounted for the remaining 23%.
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