General Electric’s value-added network subsidiary, General Electric Information Services, has placed its 1988 turnover estimate in the region of $410m, and predicts that, thanks to the continued expansion of the value-added services market in Europe, its business will continue to grow at an annual rate of 20% over the next four years, reports Agence France Presse from Paris. GEIS representatives in Paris also forecast that the value of the European value-added services market – of which GEIS claims to hold around 35% – will almost quadruple to around $1,500m by 1992 from its current figure of $400m. Worldwide, value and growth figures for the market’s three key areas bear out this trend: the US market is estimated to be worth around $4,000m and growing at an annual rate of 9%, the Asia-Pacific region is valued at $400m with an 18% annual growth rate, and Europe, also valued at $400m shows the highest annual growth rate of 20%. According to GEIS, the largest subscribers to value-added services worldwide are the banking and financial sectors, which currently generate some $3,000m of business; the delivery of goods and services, estimated to be generate some $500m; and production and distribution, which account for $2,400m of the market’s revenues. GEIS plans to continue expanding outside the US – where it presently does over 50% of its turnover – by developing direct links with PTTs in different countries. It reckons that its worldwide information network is not only the oldest but also the largest private network in the world, offering support for over 300 different protocol types, and providing links with 600 US cities and 70 different countries worldwide.
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