BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- German companies in the information technology, telecommunications and consumer electronics (ICT) industry assessed their business situation as "significantly better" in June than in the previous two months, the German digital association Bitkom announced on Monday.
The digital index by Bitkom and the ifo institute, which evaluates companies' current situation as well as expectations, turned positive for the first time since February. At 1.5 points, the index was 11.0 points higher in June than in the previous month, according to Bitkom.
"Hopes are high that the economic low point of the COVID-19 crisis has been overcome for the digital economy and that the overall digitalization push will boost demand for digital solutions," said Bitkom president Achim Berg.
For 2020, Bitkom is expecting a 3.3-percent decline in sales for the ICT industry in Germany to 163.5 billion euros (183.95 billion U.S. dollars). However, the market would grow again by 2 percent to 166.7 billion euros in 2021.
In the telecommunications sector, the trend of "moderate growth" would continue even in 2020 and an increase of 0.4 percent to 67.1 billion euros is expected, according to Bitkom.
"Telecommunications is the industry's anchor of stability," stressed Berg. During the coronavirus crisis, the demand for telecommunications services in Germany had increased.
Declining roaming earnings had a "negative" impact on German companies in the telecommunications industry because of the decline in international travel. Nevertheless, "network operators are investing billions in frequencies and the development of 5G and broadband networks," Bitkom noted. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Enditem
