CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES DISCUSSION PAPERS No. 64 The State of the Info-communication Markets in Dél-Alföld Region – Hungary by Imre KANALAS – Gábor NAGY Series editor Zoltán GÁL Pécs 2008 1 ISSN 0238–2008 ISBN 978 963 9052 98 7 © Imre Kanalas, Gábor Nagy © Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 2008 by Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Technical editor: Ilona Csapó. Printed in Hungary by Sümegi Nyomdaipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Ltd., Pécs. 2 Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................ 5 1 The Info-Communication Infrastructure and Its Use .................................................... 5 1.1 The Fixed-Line Telecommunication in Dél-Alföld .............................................. 5 1.2 The Mobile-Market in the Region ...................................................................... 15 1.3 Alternative Technologies .................................................................................... 18 1.4 The Development of CableTV Networks ........................................................... 23 1.5 The State of the Informatics Market ................................................................... 28 2 Internet-use in the counties of Dél-Alföld .................................................................. 38 2.1 Internet subscribers ............................................................................................. 38 2.2 The spread of internet and broadband subscribers in Dél-Alföld region ............ 41 2.3 Tele-houses and public Internet connection possibilities in Dél-Alföld ............. 46 3 The content provider’s activity in the region ............................................................. 52 3.1 Registration of Domain-name servers ................................................................ 52 3.2 Domain-name registrations by main activity fields ............................................ 56 4 Electronic media market in the Region....................................................................... 58 References ........................................................................................................................ 60 3 List of figures Figure 1 ADSL accessibility in Dél-Alföld (Oct. 2003) ............................................... 11 Figure 2 ADSL accessibility in Dél-Alföld (Aug. 2005) .............................................. 12 Figure 3 xDSL service providers in Dél-Alföld, 2005 ................................................. 14 Figure 4 Share of Cable-TV connected households by countries, 2002 ....................... 24 Figure 5 Cable-TV local networks in Dél-Alföld (2003) ............................................. 27 Figure 6 Broadband internet use by LAU2 units in Dél-Alföld (30/06/2006) .............. 45 Figure 7 Broadband internet use by LAU2 units in Dél-Alföld (30/06/2007) .............. 45 Figure 8 The location of tele-houses in Dél-Alföld region ........................................... 48 Figure 9 The spatial spread of eHungary points ........................................................... 49 Figure 10 Domain-name registration by LAU 1 units, 2004. ......................................... 55 Figure 11 Domain-name registrations by settlements (LAU 2), 2004. ........................... 55 Figure 12 Localelektronic mediums in Dél-Aflöld, 2005 ............................................... 59 List of tables Table 1 Number of fix-phone lines in the region .......................................................... 7 Table 2 Indicators of telecommunication in the region, 2000, 2003, 2005 ................... 8 Table 3 Number of ISDN-channels in the region .......................................................... 9 Table 4 Number of mobile phones per 100 households by region .............................. 18 Table 5 Number of Cable-TV connected households per 1000 persons in the region ............................................................................................................. 26 Table 6 Number of PCs per 100 households by regions ............................................. 29 Table 7 Number of PCs with Internet connection per 100 households by regions ...... 29 Table 8 USE of ICTs in Hungarian households, 2006 ................................................ 30 Table 9 Annual communication expenditures by regions ........................................... 31 Table 10 Computer stock of administration (1998–2005) ............................................. 32 Table 11 Use of ICTs and services in administration (2003, 2005) .............................. 33 Table 12 Use of security tools in administration (2003, 2005) ..................................... 34 Table 13 Types of Internet connections (2003, 2005) ................................................... 34 Table 14 ICT Investments and Expenditures (2003, 2005) ........................................... 35 Table 15 Regional data of informatics in administration (1998–2002) ICT investment ............................................................................................... 35 Table 16 Share of employees working with PC ............................................................ 36 Table 17 Main characteristics of ICT use in enterprises 2001–2005 ............................ 37 Table 18 Types and number of Internet subscriptions and annual revenue of he sector ......................................................................................................... 39 Table 19 Types of internet subscriptions by counties, 2004–2006 ............................... 42 Table 20 The number of broadband internet users in Dél-Alföld region, 2006, 2007 ...................................................................................................... 44 Table 21 Number of domain name registrations by counties (1998, 2004) .................. 54 Table 22 The number and share of domain name registrations by main terrains (1998, 2004) ................................................................................................... 56 4 Preface The DARFT Kht. as the regional development agency of Dél-Alföld (South Great Plain) Region advertised a planning project, called ‘The Strategy of the Information Society in Dél-Alföld’. The ‘Strategy’ was one of the basic concepts to help form out the Regional Operation Program of the Region for the 2007–2013 period, as a part of the National Development Plan. The two authors with cooperation Dr. Bálint Csatári, the Director of Alföld (Great Plain) Institute of Centre for Regional Studies (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and Mr. Tibor Szarvák, the junior research fellow of Szolnok Group of Alföld Institute published a report at Discussion Papers Series (No. 42) ‘Regions in Information Society – A Hungarian Case-study’ in 2004. The ask from DARFT Kht. to concentrate our investigation deeply into Dél-Alföld Region and renew the analysis made an opportunity for us not just follow the former scenario, but use the very recent trends and processes in our paper. We began our work in 2005 and it was accepted and used by DARFT Kht. in 2006 in the planning phase of Regional Operative Programme. In 2007 we had an opportunity to re-organize the study and publish it in English. The authors tried to find the very recent data from the different fields of investigation to show a more detailed picture of the Dél-Alföld Region. 1 The Info-Communication Infrastructure and Its Use 1.1 The Fixed-Line Telecommunication in Dél-Alföld The region is particular regarding the fixed-line telecommunication, because in this area four concessionary service companies work belonging to different proprietory spheres, realizing different strategies. While in the territory of Békés and Csongrád county there are 1-1 (but different) service companies (Hungarotel and Invitel), in Bács-Kiskun the settlements are divided between two service companies (T-Com, Emitel). 1 This type of proprietory diversity aggregate the homogenous development of the region’s telecommunication network and its service palette. 2 At the same 1The situation of Dunafalva is particular. This small village separated from Baranya county and joined into Bács-Kiskun in the 1990s, since it belongs to T-Com Corp. With the view of ownership, but it belongs to the regional management of Pécs. Territorially it appears as an isle in the ring of the districts of Emitel Corp. 2In 2007 the owners of Hungarotel (Hungarian Telephone and Cable Corp., from USA) bought the second largest fix-phone company of Hungary, Invitel Corp. After the merger the new company became the main provider both Békés and Csongrád counties. In the same year T-Com the dominant fix-phone provider in the national market got the majority of Emitel Co., however the two companies are not merged yet, but on the area of strategic development there will be a closer 5 time the start of the free competition under the influence of the 2003 Single Telecommunication Act forced the regional service companies to introduce the newest service possibilities and the formation of subscriber packages attractive for the subscribers (means: competitive with the other alternatives). 3 In the region the activation of T-Com can be conspicuous, which remains a determinant trade mark through its Internet and cable network companies. In the first round, the new service companies aimed the entrepreneurial and institutional clientele,