Dot-com failure rate slows

The number of dot-coms going to the wall is slowing, according to just released figures from the US.

At least 93 internet-based companies either closed their doors or filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2002 compared to 345 for the corresponding six months in 2001, according to San Francisco-based Webmergers.com .

The research company said failures in the sector have been running at under 20 per month for the first half of this year. At the height of the dot-com shake out - during 2001 and the last half of 2000 - the rate averaged 44 per month.

Back then, business-to-consumer ecommerce and content companies headed the failing list. These days, infrastructure players and ISPs or those involved in broadband are just as likely to be counting their last clicks, the research found.