The main reasons for the lack of use of high-speed digital networks appeared to be lack of awareness about newer technologies and concerns about the higher cost of their use. One respondent attributed his preference for modem-based analogue communication to the fact that his Director, the principal decision maker on ICT adoption, was unaware of the availability of high-speed connections. He said that when the firm was connected four years ago, modem-based analogue communication was the only option available. Another respondent from another firm observed that although the technology was being updated regularly, the system administrator has not advised the Directors about the potential advantages of highspeed connections and the employees were satisfied and comfortable with the use of their modem-based analogue connections. The Director of another firm indicated that he did not know about high-speed connections and was satisfied with a modem-based analogue connection because it was meeting the firm’s needs. The other reason that the respondents seemed to prefer modem-based analogue to high-speed connections was related to the cost of equipment to support high speed networks. One Director indicated that his firm was not willing to invest in the equipment required to obtain high-speed connection to a network. Another believed that such equipment would be more difficult to maintain than the analogue equipment. 5.1 Garment Firms E-commerce Network Access The firms in the study had several options for obtaining network access. The first and easiest was the public Internet, which provides access to foreign company web -sites and to specialised trading sites. However, other options included the use of Intranets, Extranets, and Wide Area Networks (WANs). Intranets are effectively internal min-webs (Flood 2002) that typically hold directory information, company documentation, and information on employee benefits that may be open to all employees. Parts of a company intranet may be secured and used to transmit financial data and other records from one office to another creating a form of intra-company trade. For example, an integrated textile company may ‘sell’ fabric from its textile mill to its clothing factory and the company intranet may be used to execute the transaction. Extranets link company-specific networks enabling business partners and suppliers to share corporate data. This may be a major benefit, especially for small companies upstream in the supply chain, that can participate in electronic trading at low cost (Mansell and Wehn 1998). Business intelligence extranets use query, reporting, and analysis software running on a web server (Whiting 2002), and information may include brochures, annual reports, and various forms. A web interface may be used to retrieve data, which 15