The ARC Fund has released its latest e-Bulgaria 2006 Report, which analyses progress in ICT infrastructure deployment in the country, as well as the penetration and use of internet and ICT-related services in Bulgarian households, enterprises, schools, universities and government institutions over this year. Here are some highlights:

· The share of internet users in the country has reached 26 per cent of the population aged 15 and over. The projections suggest that by 2007, about 34 per cent of the population would be using the internet; Current internet connections types and distribution are Dial-Up and ISDN – 10 per cent; Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line – 10 per cent; Cable – 30 per cent; UTP-at-Home (LAN) – 50 per cent.

· The main places for internet access are at home (40 per cent) and at work (28 per cent). Internet clubs and internet cafes come next, in third place with 27 per cent.

· With coverage of 65 per cent of Bulgarian households, cable TV companies are leaders in providing internet access in the country.  So-called pirate servers helped Bulgarian develop the wide-range access to internet and in reality, 80 per cent of households’ internet access and 90 per cent of the businesses, schools/universities access to internet is over 256 Kb/s.

· What is lacking in Bulgaria is not faster internet access, but new content and valued added tax (VAT) services, along with the already existing downloading of films, music, software and games. Bulgaria lags behind European Union member countries in the area of provided digital services tied up with cable TV as well. At present, less than one per cent of the households are using such services, compared to one third in the EU.  

· The largest point of divide witnessed by the previous report, e-Bulgaria 2005, was access to PCs and internet at schools. The government’s large-scale investment in ICT  in schools has practically levelled this divide, but other important issues remain unresolved. The need for training teachers in specific regions in the country is one such issue.

· A key challenge for policy makers remains the digital divide among disadvantaged groups and ethnic minorities. The data suggests that internet penetration rates among ethnic groups are three to five times lower than the average figures for the country.

· Penetration of new ICTs in businesses seems to approach a level of saturation. In 2006, 90 per cent of businesses have at least one computer, 75 to 80 per cent have access to  the internet, allowing about 27 per cent of employees to have access to the internet at their workplaces. Currently 24 per cent of enterprises have websites. Eleven per cent of them provide opportunities for online orders. Twenty one per cent of all enterprises have digital signatures in 2006, which are used mainly to optimise communications with government institutions. The report concludes that Bulgarian enterprises are relatively well equipped with computers, an index which is expected to reach high rates in the next two to three years.

· The setting up of local area networks and internet connection is moving fast. However, this does not mean that the potential of such networks is being used to its full capacity. The IT skills of the employees working for non-IT companies is a result of self-training and a matter of evolution.

· Access to internet for enterprises is expected to reach its logical range of 90 per cent in 2007.  In the first three months of 2006, 48 per cent of the companies supporting their own websites, provided on-line services. However only 16 to 20 per cent of the orders had the option of on-line paying. Almost every financial and bank institution in Bulgaria provides internet banking services. In reality, anyone with a debit card can make online transactions at a price lower than offline transactions. 

• E-government could be a serious multiplier in information society development, yet the report shows a rather weak political commitment to implement e-government services in Bulgaria, as well as disturbing inefficiencies in IT procurement, and little horizontal co-ordination among the various government agencies.

Applied Research and Communications Fund (ARC is a private non-profit organisation working to advance the development of a modern knowledge-based society that harnesses the power of information technology and innovations.)

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