Businesses in the Border counties are accessing the internet more frequently but have a lower usage of internet applications and, as a result, are not maximising their efficiency in e-commerce, according to Ms Helen McEntee, project manager for the SME e-business programme in the Border region.

Speaking at the launch of the website of Drogheda Chamber of Commerce where Esat BT also announced the arrival of broadband services to the town, she said 47 per cent of businesses in the region are using an analog telephone line to dial up to the internet, while just 5 per cent have a dedicated or always-on line which has proven very expensive, especially for small businesses.

"There are smaller than average sized businesses in Louth and they are not taking full advantage of what the internet has to offer them," she said. "For example, not as many here as in other regions have websites yet; they do see the relevance of them."

"A lot of companies are outsourcing for the expertise and therefore hand over responsibility to another company and don't have ownership of it."

Those who do have access - 87 per cent in Co Louth compared to 84 per cent nationally - "are not using it to make their business run more efficiently by, for example, e-banking, purchasing online or using revenue on-line".

"Small businesses in Louth struggle with the cost issue and, because a lot of internet applications are speed orientated, it is often quicker to telephone them than to go online on an analog line," she added.

The importance of e-commerce was underlined by the chief executive of Drogheda Chamber of Commerce Mr David Pryor, who said: "It brings markets nearer, cheaper and faster and is more than just a distribution point. Having broadband available moves us into the next lane; it is the policy of IDA Ireland to have knowledge and skill-based industries and this is one of the stepping stones to that."