Literally thousands of service providers worldwide are investing tens of billions of dollars in new IT infrastructure. In addition, there is likely to be a significant role for development assistance in helping developing countries put this infrastructure in place. A host of new technologies may make the job easier for new entrants. New technologies like wireless and satellite can connect communities in remote or rural areas at a fraction of the cost of hard wired systems. Successful Internet-facilitated trade starts with the first mouse clicks and carries through to delivery to the consumer.
Telecommunications networks are the fundamental starting point.
But transportation, customs, payment and delivery service networks are the unheralded linchpins of global e-business. They are critical to ensuring that goods traded electronically can move fast physically. Just as the establishment of telephone lines and railroad infrastructure revolutionized the economy in the last century, the development and integration of telecommunications, transportation, customs, and delivery services in support of e-commerce can revolutionize the way we do business in the 21st century. Provide companies and financial institutions with swift and secure electronic payment options. The benefits of progress in any one sector will be multiplied if progress is made in the others.