Selected Indicators - Methodological notes

Information Society (Households)

Definitions

Broadband - No generally accepted definition of broadband can be given. Common definitions refer to either:

• 1. the connection speeds measured in kbps or mbps (in at least the downstream direction) or bandwidth measured by the amount of digital bits that one can transmit per second, measured in kbps or mbps;
  2. the type of connection, of which the following provide broadband access: xDSL (ADSL, SDSL, etc), Cable TV network (cable modem), UMTS (mobile phone), or other (e.g. satellite, fixed wireless);
  3. the content such as high definition movie trailers, short films, flash animation, three dimensional video games, video on demand, internet radio, streaming video, video conferencing and so on.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) - A high-bandwidth (broadband), local loop technology to carry data at high speeds over traditional (copper) telephone lines.

E-mail - Electronic transmission of messages, including text and attachments, from one computer to another located within or outside of an organisation. This includes electronic mail by Internet or other computer networks.

Goods and services bought or ordered over the Internet - Goods and services bought or ordered via a site on the Internet.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) - An enhancement for GSM, based on packet-switched technology, enabling high-speed data transmission (115 kbit/s).

Handheld computer - Battery powered wallet-sized computer that can be held in one hand, also called palmtop computer includes electronic organisers.

Household - Refers either to one person living alone or a group of people living together.

Internet - Relates to Internet Protocol based networks: www, Extranet over the Internet, EDI over the Internet, Internet-enabled mobile phones.

Internet enabled mobile phone - Mobile phone that can access the Internet via GPRS, WAP or other standards.

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network.

Modem - Device that modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analogue signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analogue signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

Personal computer - Includes desktop computers, tower PCs and portable computers (laptops).

Public authoritie web sites - Web sites of public authorities like central government, regional and local administration, and police and social security organisations.

UMTS - (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) - UMTS is a third generation technology of wireless telecommunications. It supports speeds of data transmission of up to 2 Mbps, and can transmit voice, text and video data. UMTS is a broadband technology using packet switching.

WAP - (Wireless Application Protocol) - A license-free protocol for wireless communication that enables the creation of mobile telephone services and the reading of Internet pages from a mobile terminal, thus being the mobile equivalent of HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol).

Web site - Location on the World Wide Web identified by a Web address. Collection of Web files on a particular subject that includes an index file are called a home page. Information is encoded with specific languages (Hypertext mark-up language (HTML), XML, Java) readable with a Web browser, like Netscape's Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

xDSL, ADSL etc. - DSL technologies designed to increase bandwidth over standard copper telephone wires; includes ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) etc.

Information Society (Enterprises)

Definitions

Broadband - No generally accepted definition of broadband can be given. Common definitions refer to either:

• 1. the connection speeds measured in kbps or mbps (in at least the downstream direction) or bandwidth measured by the amount of digital bits that one can transmit per second, measured in kbps or mbps;
  2. the type of connection, of which the following provide broadband access: xDSL (ADSL, SDSL, etc), Cable TV network (cable modem), UMTS (mobile phone), or other (e.g. satellite, fixed wireless);
  3. the content such as high definition movie trailers, short films, flash animation, three dimensional video games, video on demand, internet radio, streaming video, video conferencing and so on.

Closed or proprietary networks - A network that is owned or leased by an individual or company exclusively for its own use.

Computer-mediated networks other than Internet - EDI, Minitel or interactive telephone systems.

Digital products or services - Goods/services that can be ordered and delivered directly to a computer over the Internet, e.g. music, videos, games, computer software, online newspapers, consulting services, etc.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) - A high-bandwidth (broadband), local loop technology that can carry data at high speeds over traditional (copper) telephone lines.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) - Transactions conducted over Internet Protocol-based networks and over other computer-mediated networks. The goods and services are ordered over those networks, but the payment and the ultimate delivery of the good or service may be conducted on or off-line. Orders received via telephone, facsimile, or manually typed e-mails are not counted as electronic commerce.

EDI - Electronic Data Interchange. Data interchange in structured form (EDIFACT) between businesses.

E-mail - Electronic transmission of messages, including text and attachments, from one computer to another located within or outside of the organisation. This includes electronic mail by Internet or other computer networks.

Extranet - A secure extension of an Intranet that allows external users to access some parts of an organisation´s Intranet.

Firewalls - Safety interface betwen internal and external networks (usually local network and Internet).

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network:

Internet - Relates to Internet Protocol based networks: www, Extranet over the Internet, EDI over the Internet, Internet-enabled mobile phones.

Intranet - An internal company communications network using Internet protocol allowing communications within an organisation.

LAN (Local Area Network) - A network for communication between computers confined to a single building or in closely located group of buildings, permitting users to exchange data, share a common printer or master a common computer, etc.

Modem - Device that modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analogue signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analogue signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

On-line payment - An on-line payment is an integrated ordering/payment transaction.

Specialised Internet market places - Web site where several enterprises are represented and which market a specific type of goods/services or are aimed at limited groups of customers.

Trustmarks - A label on a web site indicating that an organization agrees to comply with a number of best business practices, including redress mechanisms. Essentials of trustmarks are: Label, Code of Conduct/Principles, Enforcement, Redress. The aim is to win the trust of the consumer.

xDSL, ADSL etc. - DSL technologies designed to increase bandwidth over standard copper telephone wires; includes ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) etc.