Information Technology in AUSTRIA

Traunsee

Internet connections

Currently, there are some 25 Internet providers in Austria. Some of these providers (7) have a direct IP connectivity to Ebone, the pan-European backbone to the global Internet. Through Ebone, European users have improved access and higher performance connections to the global Internet. Furthermore, by encouraging the participation of both research networks and commercial network service providers (e.g. PTTs, information technology companies), Ebone contributes to development of competitive services in Europe. Austria's Ebone node in Vienna gives Eastern European countries the opportunity to connect the middle and eastern countries in Europe to the Net. Such a link would allow Austrian companies to offer export their services in the emerging countries. ³¹

Click here to see a map of Internet providers

With 48 Internet users per 1000 inhabitants, Austria leads Germany (28) and Italy (8), but lags the very developed Scandinavian countries Finland (148) and Sweden (98).

Internet hosts growth

Servers in Austria

Austrian Internet Yellow Pages

Internet hosts in Austria

In July 1995, there were 40,696 Internet (.at) hosts (vs. Germany, de: 350,707; Sweden, se: 106,725, and Italy, it: 46,143). A better comparison is the GNP/number of hosts in a country (July 1994):

Country	Hosts	GNP	GNP/Hosts
Sweden	53,294	$202,498m	3.80
Austria	20,130	$164,100m	8.15
Germany	149,193	$1,495,679m	10.03
Italy	23,616	$1,090,000m	46.16

In the international comparison, Austria is among the advanced countries. With some 54,000 servers connected to the Internet in December 1995, Austria ranked 16th in the world. Although many users originally were in academics, the commercial sector already accounts for some 50%. ³²

Some 300 users are joining the Internet per day in Austria. Early 1995, the number of users was estimated at 200,000. In 1997 the forecast is that 500,000 Austrians will use the Internet privately, and that there will be 200,000 commercial users. The high growth rates are no longer university-driven. Today most new users are businesses, private households, and organizations.

Other on-line services

The Austrian PTT offers PAN (Public Access Network) with 14,400 bps modem, ISDN and Datex-P connections. Subscribers use a software decoder "Suxxess 2.0". ³³ In 1995, an Internet gateway was offered through the access of CompuServe.

In March 1996, the PTT is expected to launch "Austria Online", the successor of PAN. It will be comparable to T-Online which is a service provided by Deutsche Telekom. Access will be available through modem, ISDN, Datex-P, and Ethernet. ³⁴

Other online services offered include CompuServe, and Europe Online. 80% of the Europeans are able to access Europe Online's own telecommunication network and a Gateway to the Internet. America Online has teamed up with the media giant Bertelsmann and launched AOL Germany. Services will be available in France and the UK this year. It can be expected that Austria will be able to access AOL soon.

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