Broadband tops CEO agendas

According to a survey out today compiled by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the biggest challenge facing CEOs in the broadband is the implementation of the services and making the most of the opportunities that will be available to them.

The study, based on responses from 128 CEOs, said content producers like AOL and Yahoo! need to assemble useful content and make it accessible amid the plethora of information available.

Paul Wignall, executive consultant at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young said: "Network operators cannot just provide bandwidth anymore, they need applications and services and they need to know how to use them."

The report said that content providers could realise growth opportunities by innovative advertising approaches and taking advantage of revenue generators such as pay-per-use, content subscription, mobile content and time specific pricing options.

The study also found the CEOs interviewed remained upbeat in terms of the long term prospects of online advertising spend.

The survey said online advertising by old economy companies will total half of all advertising and grow 71 per cent by 2004.

In December, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers said global online advertising spend for the third quarter of 2000 was $1.9bn - down 6.5 per cent from Q2, the first time web sales fell, quarter to quarter.

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