It has been argued the Internet may on occasion represent a threat to SMEs in that it may facilitate the entry of new and larger competitors to local domains by reducing barriers to entry. In this research it has been shown the HITECH firms tended to view the Internet much more significantly as a force for change – both an opportunity and threat – than other types of firm. Therefore the propositions advanced in the third and fourth hypotheses (H3 and H4) could be plausibly defended in the case of the HITECH firms, who rated the Internet as opportunity with 3.6 on a 5-point scale, and threat with 3.4 on a 5-point scale. The SER and MFG firms rated the Internet as a threat to a lower degree (2.6-2.8 on a 5point scale).