Sustaining internet usage in the emerging digital economy

Malaysia is undergoing tremendous development programs towards a developed nation. ICT initiative is one of the strategies to facilitate the implementation of economic, social and cultural development in the society. The embrace (adoption) of ICT among the people depends on many factors which facilitate or inhibit the use of ICT. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that facilitate internet usage among urban dwellers living in the Klang Valley, an area comprising the capital city, Kuala Lumpur and parts of the state of Selangor. This is crucial in order to trace the impact of various public sector ICT initiatives like the High Speed Broadband (HSBB). The study distributed 303 questionnaires to respondents who were sampled from internet users. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used to analyse the data. The descriptive statistics included frequency, percentages, means and standard deviation while the inferential statistics included reliability test, means and multiple regressions. The results of the study showed that factors such as interpersonal and social network, perceived and realized benefits and communication channels facilitate internet usage. Implication of this usage is expected to reflect on urban living with regard to the use of Internet.