66.4% of companies have Internet access and 42.6% of them have a website

The beginning of 2008 saw Basque companies continuing to improve their ICT –Information and Communication Technology– facilities, according to Eustat data. However, smaller companies are currently registering the greatest percentage growth, as the largest companies have nearly achieved maximum levels of facilities.

In the smallest establishments (0-9 employees), ICT technology facilities grew by an average of five percentage points in recent years, while the rise was only around one point in the case of companies with 10 or more employees. This means that the gap between large and small companies, in terms of ICT facilities, is getting increasingly narrower and there is no longer such an overwhelming difference in favour of the larger companies.

Graph 1: Evolution of ICT facilities in Basque companies. (%)

Source: Eustat

ICT technology facilities in smaller companies currently range between 27.3% that have a website and 78.3% that have mobile telephones, with 73.0% owning a computer, 64.2% with Internet access and 61.0% with email.

In terms of all establishments, 78.4% have a computer, which is an increase of 4.1 percentage points in the last year, 66.4% have access to Internet, which is up by 4.8 points, and establishments with email now account for 63.%% of the total, which is an improvement of 5.9 points. Mobile telephones, in turn, are found in 79.2% of cases, an increase of 3.4 percentage points on the previous figure, and they remain the most widely-established piece of equipment.

Companies with 10 or more employees have also improved their ICT facilities, even though at a slower rate that smaller ones.

In the case of establishments with 10 or more employees, the average ranges between the 68.5% that have a website and the 98.2% that have a computer. 91.5%% of them have mobile telephones, 94.4% Internet access and 95.7% email.

Even though the differences are not very significant, it is also noteworthy that computers, mobile telephones and websites are more widely used in the establishments in Álava, Internet and email in Gipuzkoa, while the figures for these technologies are slightly lower in Bizkaia.

Table 1: Establishments with ICT facilities, by province and size of establishment. 2008.

* Difference in percentage points as regards the previous year.

Source: Eustat

As regards the percentage of employees that use these technologies, this remains steady, showing only slight growth. Thus, 60.5% of employed personnel use a computer, 49.5% use email and have Internet access.

It should be pointed out that the percentages of employees using these technologies are very similar, regardless of the size of the establishment, due, among other reasons, to the greater progress made in small establishments and to the fact that not all employees have access to these technologies in the larger ones Elsewhere, it can be seen that Bizkaia has the greatest percentage of employees using these technologies, followed by Gipuzkoa and Álava.

Table 2: Employees using ICT facilities, by province and size of establishment. 2008.

Source: Eustat

Internet access for Basque companies is largely through ADSL

The number of Basque companies with Internet access continues to grow year after year, currently accounting for 66.4% of the total, following an increase of 4.8 percentage points on the previous year. In addition, the most common means of accessing the net remains ADSL lines, whose use increases yearly and now covers 85.9% of the total number of companies with access.

The percentages for the other types of connections are much lower. Thus, dial-up connection using a modem accounted for 19.8%, cable 13.8%, using mobile phones 11.4%, with ISDN lines some way behind with 6.2% and other connections representing 1.5%,

Table 3: Establishments with Internet access and means of access. (%)

(*) From 2008 on Cable is splitted from Other

Source: Eustat

Among companies with 10 or more employees, 94.4% have Internet access. ADSL lines are also the most common type of access for companies of this size, used by 90.7%, followed, also some way behind, by use of mobile telephone (19.6%), cable (16.0%), modem (11.7%), ISDN lines (8.7%) and other lines (2.5%).

As far as the main reasons for the companies using Internet are concerned, these include searching for information, obtaining financial or banking services and carrying out administrative tasks.

Companies are increasingly more aware of the importance of being present online through a website. In the last year, companies who are present on the net accounted for 30.3% of the total, following an increase of 4.1 percentage points, while in the case of companies with 10 or more employees, this figure came to 68.5%, up 1.6 points. If we only take into account companies that have Internet connections, these percentages increase to 42.6% for the total and 70.4% in the case of companies with 10 or more employees.

These websites chiefly contain general information concerning the company itself and a list of products and services offered, disclaimers, after-sales services and job opportunities.

As regards the languages in which it can be accessed, Spanish was most outstanding, in 98.5% of cases, in Basque, 32.0%, in English 29.0% and in other languages 13.9%.

24.0% of Basque companies with 10 or more employees carried out e-commerce in 2007

Although slowly, e-commerce continues to grow in the A.C. of the Basque Country. In 2007, 15.3% of Basque establishments carried out e-commerce, following an increase of 2.5 points regarding the previous year This figure was mainly achieved through the 14.1% who carried out purchases electronically, up 2.7 percentage points, and, to a lesser extent through, those who used this method for sales, representing a mere 3.6%, which was an increase of 0.7 points.

These figures were greater in companies with 10 or more employees, where the proportion of those that carried out purchases or sales through the net or via other electronic systems (EDI, Electronic Data Interchange), came to 24.0%, following growth of 3.6 points. Here too, the greater part of this total was due to those who made electronic purchases, which accounted for 21.4%, up 3.7 points as regards the previous year and, to a lesser extent, due to those who carried out sales using the same channels, which came to 7.8%, after an increase of 1.4 points.