Aussie businesses prospering on Net

Australian companies that do business online have seen their Internet-related income rise sharply, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The ABS found that the average income earned through business activity conducted on the Internet has more than doubled in 2002-03, with income earned by Australian businesses reaching $24.3 billion, more than double the previous year's figure of $11.3 billion.

This was supported by an increase in the proportion of Australian businesses receiving orders via the Internet, from six percent in 2001-02 to 13 percent in 2002-03.

The results correspond with an increase in the use of broadband by businesses to access the Internet, which suggests the improvements in speed and performance that broadband offers the user is a key factor in the increase in business activity being conducted online.

Between June 2002 and June 2003 the proportion of businesses accessing the Internet using Digital Subscriber Line services rose from seven per cent to 18 percent, while at the same time there was a decrease in dial-up modem use, from 86 percent to 76 percent.

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