The well-publicized growth of the Internet has continued unabated over the last year, reports the Internet Society, the private organization that monitors Internet connections and tracks their growth. The total number of users has grown from just over 15 million to 32 million since April 1993, and the number of networks connected has more than tripled, from 10,000 to 35,000. Every 30 minutes a new network is connected, the society reports.
However, an analysis of companies reveals that the preponderance of firms with Internet connections are still in the geographical areas with the highest concentration of high-tech industries: Northern California, Northern Virginia, Colorado, and the Boston area. When ranked according to companies connected per 1,000 residents, 23 of the top 25 U.S. Internet-connected cities fall within those four areas, according to information compiled by Internet Info, Falls Church, VA. Only Princeton, NJ, at the top of the list, and Beaverton, OR, number 24, do not.
The largest single concentration of Internet-connected companies lies in California's Silicon Valley, with 10 of the top 25 cities-again, measured in companies per 1,000 residents. Virginia has seven cities in that group.
Princeton comes in first with 39 companies and 3.25 companies per 1,000 residents, and Palo Alto, CA, is second, with 155 companies and 2.82 per 1,000 residents.
However, measured in total number of companies connected, New York City is tops in the United States with 291 companies, followed by San Jose, CA, with 260, then San Francisco with 218. Two cities with fewer than 100,000 residents-Boulder, CO, and Santa Clara, CA, are fourth and fifth on that list, respectively. Even on the list of total connected companies, 10 of the top 25 cities are in Northern California. Those 25 cities more widespread geographically, however, with Dallas, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Ann Arbor on the list with the most companies.
The analysis was based on the total of 14,726 U.S. companies registered with the Internet as of last April.
The largest public companies with a heavy presence on the Internet are not necessarily technology companies, however. The list is topped by Exxon, with 261 networks and two domains connected. Others in the top 10, in order, are Transamerica, 259 networks and one domain; GTE, 228 networks, 14 hosts, and 12 domains; Unisys, 208 networks, three hosts, and three domains; Texas Instruments, 183 networks, one host, and two domains; Boeing, 139 networks, one host; Motorola, 137 networks, two hosts, and one domain; Hewlett-Packard, 136 hosts, and one domain; Commonwealth Edison, 128 networks, one host, and one domain; and Sprint, 58 networks, six hosts, and 11 domains.
Of the 490 large public companies reviewed by Internet Info, 226 had some presence on the Internet. Large public companies were defined as having revenue of more than $1.5 billion a year based on their most recent filings with the Security and Exchange Commission.
The total number of registered commercial domains on the Internet as of last June 15 was 15,384, of which 1,326 had registered in the previous month alone. California topped the list of states with 4,192 registered domains, 27 percent of the total, with a monthly growth rate of eight percent. Colorado was second with 959 domains and 7.9 percent monthly growth and Massachusetts third with 951 domains and 7.2 percent monthly growth. New York had the highest rate of monthly growth of the top 10 states, at 14.1 percent and 913 domains currently registered. Texas was fifth in total domains registered with 711.