Ebusiness strategy will streamline utility billing

NEWS Ecommerce transactions accounted for $36m of the European utilities' business last year, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan. However, utilities are not embracing the internet as quickly as counterparts in other industries. Electronic billing will account for just under 10 per cent of the total gas and electricity market by 2006, the study concluded. The report's authors stressed that since utilities send several bills a year to each customer, they stand to save millions by converting to e-billing.