For the second year in a row, fewer exhibitors have registered to take part in the computer trade fair CeBIT in Hannover. According to Deutsche Messe AG, which organizes the fair, 7,074 companies will participate in the event from March 12-19, 2003. At this year's fair, 7962 companies were represented, although 698 of them did not pay for their stands, causing losses of millions of euros. Over the past two years, the once high-flying CeBIT, one of the world's largest computer trade fairs, has lost 15 percent of its exhibitors.