Asia - Data Communications and E-Commerce

Synopsis

This report looks at two related sectors of the Asian telecommunications sectors - data communications and e-commerce. The data communications market in Asia started to grow more rapidly in 1999. Despite this upturn in the market, apart from Japan, the region continued to lag behind much of the world. In the same way, Asia has been slow in the adoption of e-commerce. One of the biggest obstacles - access to the Internet - has been rapidly overcome through most of the region. But other problems remain. Language continues to be a barrier, as the majority of e-commerce sites in the world continue to be in English. But it would appear the online security remains the most significant barrier.