Just a few months ago the Internet was riding on a high wave of euphoria, but now the hype seems to be subsiding. Nonetheless, it is universally acknowledged that the Web is the future. The only drawback is that the Internet has not been able to reach most sections of the population. Many countries, including India, are not broadband enabled, due to which net speed is slow and the confidence of the Indian market in using the internet as a means of trading is yet to build up.

The reason for the Indian market not using the internet as a focal point to conduct commercial transactions is not due to the hacking of their credit card numbers, but because they are not very sure about the reliability of the net connection, which may get disconnected any moment. As a result, ongoing transactions might get interrupted and the trader may not be certain whether it has been completed or not.

With new lines of fibre optics line installation, the current scenario is expected to change very soon. Information technology professionals are yet to over come many more challenges. Though the dotcom world has taken a beating and this has brought a measure of uncertainty to the Internet, experts are of the opinion that the best is yet to come.

The coming of age of real internet e-commerce, where people can actually do online business with no fear of others misusing their credit card numbers, will see an incredible boom in the use of the Internet. What can be more convenient than sitting at home and ordering just what you want at the click on a mouse.

And still to come is WAP, where people can access the internet world through their hand held mobile phones. Though major players are working on this technology, it has been hampered by limited processing and memory capacity of mobile phones, display screens which are too small and finally the lack of bandwidth.

Big time companies like Nokia and Motorola have already started their developments in this area in terms of providing hardware support, while companies like Infosys and Siemens provide the necessary software backing. But for ebusiness to really take off, these technologies need to incorporate efficiency in design. New theories, new ideas and innovative people will emerge to prove that the Internet is a safe, reliable and efficient medium to conduct business.

S Kiran Kumar

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