ESIS extension / Lithuania / www Indicators / Update Report 6

There were no significant changes in the number of Web pages from organisations, referred in the table below. The most remarkable developments are going on in mobile communications, banking and e-business sectors.

A few new sites/portals were established or are under development in the health care sector with the support of Lithuania’s Soros Foundation. The sites are dedicated mainly to public health care or prevalent Lithuanian diseases.

Twelve new regional schools were connected to Internet under Nordic Countries Council support. A few schools were connected with private persons and companies support. The more significant increase in the number of WWW pages can be expected the next quarter, after the establishment of sites in the newly connected schools.

On the 18^th September the mobile Communications Company Bite GSM (started Internet business on the 1^st June) presented the new portal www.banga.lt with a WAP page. The portal is oriented mainly for mobile communication users and for electronic and mobile commerce applications in the near future. The realisation of Internet auctions, e-shopping is expected in 2-3 months.

Mobile Communications Company Tele 2 (started in Lithuania in December 1999) is developing a similar portal too.

The largest mobile communications company Omnitel, with the WAP page mmm.wap.lt, has plans to implement in the near future new WAP services: e-mail and Internet banking operation. Currently the most popular areas for WAP users are: news, advertising and announcements, currency rates and the weather forecast.

2. Banking sector

In September the largest commercial bank Vilniaus Bankas (http://www.vb.lt) presented the description of the Internet banking system "VB Internet", the costs of related services and rules of use. "VB Internet" allows domestic and companies to realise bank operations and to get information on their accounts. 128 bit coding is used for security. The users need to have a PC connected to Internet with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape Communicator 4.7. The connection is free of charge and there are no subscriber fees for clients. Other banks have plans for the establishment of similar services.

3. Labour Exchanges on Internet

The company BrainPower established www.brainpower. This site aims at for high quality specialists looking for employment and for companies searching for specialists. Free of charge registration for specialists requires the selection of one of these categories: Administration, Engineering, Finance, General Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Media and Advertising, Production and Manufacturing (Operations) Sales and Marketing in whole Lithuania. Openings in large Lithuanian companies and multinational companies are listed. The BrainPower had plans to accumulate about 5000 CV of specialists in 2000. The companies for contacts of specialists will pay 7-15 EUR (20-50 Lt). The BrainPower is seeking leadership in Lithuania and wants to expand activities in neighbour countries.

The company "CV-Online Lietuva" (http://www.cvonline.lt), provider of information on employment on Internet, presented the new WAP based service for mobile communication and mobile Internet. The client, looking for employment, can receive all information by mobile phones.

Six WWW pages are providing labour exchange information on Internet. The list of pages is available in the portal http://www.on.lt.

4. Other services

On the18th September the Lithuanian Company Mobitechas started www free hosting services on the Web site http://www.free-hosting.lt. 10 Mb space and free e-mail are available for registered users. Currently about 100 users registered for WWW hosting and 150 for e-mail services. The users can use other free of charge services: counters and connection to advertisement system.

The Internet Service Company Delfi (http://www.delfi.lt) presented the new service "Interactive Architects". "Interactive Architects" offers Internet business plans service, consultations on Internet technology, e-marketing, e-business, e-advertisement and e-commerce. Delfi also provides design of sites, GSM and Internet integration and other services.

The new TV broadcast on the Internet project TVNET started in Lithuania. The Web page www.tvnet.lt presents integration of interactive TV and text information. The company invested more 100 KEUR (400 KLt) for special software and hardware. A part of the services are available for registered users. The registration is free of charge. TVNET presents information on regional and world politics, economics news, information about the newest technologies and entertainment.

	Total number of "population"	Total number of Web sites	% of website / total number of "population"	Source
Primary and secondary schools	1301	140	10,7%	OSF, Ministry of Science and Education, LITNET
High schools and universities	16	16	100%	LITNET
National ministries	13	13	100%	Internet, Prime Minister office http://www.lrvk.lt
Regional and local authorities (regions, departments/countries, municipalities)	515*	80	15,5%	Lithuania Internet, Ministry of Public Administration Reforms and Local Authorities http://www.vrsrm.lt
Hospitals/clinics	190	35	18,4%	Lithuania Internet, OSF report
Museums	80	50	62,5%	Lithuania Internet, OSF report
Libraries	320	50	15,6%	Lithuania Internet, OSF report
Totals	2435		15,8%

* 10 districts, 44 regions and 12 city municipalities have WWW sites under PHARE support. Very few local authorities in the rural area are presented on Internet only.

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.