How to make the Internet cheaper still with a new revolution - opinion piece

HOW TO MAKE THE INTERNET CHEAPER STILL WITH A NEW REVOLUTION -OPINION PIECE

By Paul Wellings, Head of Media with e-commerce financials software house Access Accounting Ltd, Colchester, Essex. http://www.access-accounts.com

Will the British business model follow the US and truly trade on-line? This is a question that all business managers will have asked themselves. On both a macro and micro-economic level it is too important an issue to fudge.

These days it seems that every other advert on television is 'dot com this or 'dot com that. E-commerce is the growth industry of the 21st century. But we still have an enormous way to go to catch America. Europe has a 15 per cent share of world e-commerce -- while the US has a staggering 75 per cent.

The announcement, by US based search engine Altavista, that it is to offer unlimited Internet access, to the UK market, at a much-reduced price of only 10 per year with a 36 one-off fee is fantastic news. It has fired the first salvo in what is promising to be a hard fought price war.

The combined actions of Altavista, NTL and BT providing fixed tariff phone access to the Internet, must certainly transform Britains e-business model.

The move will dramatically shake up the UK Internet Service Provider industry by giving millions of people affordable net access. It is claimed the move will save web users 700m a year. This move will undoubtedly boost the British economy through increasing the number of people online and internet-related jobs.

Our British companies are delivering the web content that this growing army of on-line shoppers requires. When will the Government enhance these cheaper tariffs by providing ISDN and ADSL, that will provide the speed that business users really need.

Quite obviously some of the obstacles holding the British model back are being eroded. But if the UK is to play catch-up with our friends across the Atlantic then a larger and more fundamental change needs to occur. The forward thinking company has to accept that e-business is here to stay. The sooner it is incorporated into the existing model the sooner technology can work for, rather than against, the business.

Early e-businesses, that may have perfected the customer facing web site, are all too often let down by the poor back office support functions. Too many professional looking sites are found wanting when orders are processed -- and the customers heightened expectations have only further to fall. Where once the early web traders could rely on the novelty value of enabling customers to order online, they are now finding that the customer, quite rightly, expects similar efficiencies in distribution and order processing.

Businesses need an affordable solution that enables a trading website to be fully integrated with the accounting system, offering a seamless link from the front to back office environment -- truly 'end -to -end e-commerce.

Until recently companies could only integrate their e-commerce site to their accounts software if they invested in high cost leased telephone lines connecting their company to the Internet. Even a small web shop requires a leased line costing twenty to thirty thousand pounds per year, and as soon as the site is successful costs double or treble.

As a UK software house we have mounted a campaign to get British Business Online". Access Accounts have solved the problem of integrating low cost remotely hosted web sites with back office accounts software. This has completely solved the dilemma of high cost leased telephone lines, but more importantly it helps British Business provide a faster more efficient service to their customers.

Being an E-commerce financials software house we urge the Government to reduce the cost of business Internet calls. The recent consumer phone price news is a huge step in the right direction. But will these proposals really revolutionise Internet use in the UK to the extent of achieving the Governments dream of making Britain the centre of e-commerce. We await the outcome with baited breath.