More and more EU households using broadband
The drive to get EU citizens connected to the Internet using broadband appears to be paying off, the results of a special Eurobarometer suggest. It finds that almost one in every four households in the 25 EU Members States go online using broadband. This is an improvement on the situation in 2002, when only six per cent of EU households on average were using broadband. The surge in broadband up-take bodes well for the European Commission's i2010 strategy, which aims to accelerate the roll-out of advanced broadband communications and create an open and competitive single market for information society and media services within the EU. Under i2010, the Commission targets the year 2010 for making high-speed broadband lines available everywhere in Europe. The term 'broadband' is commonly used to describe Internet connections that are 'always on' and significantly faster than dial-up ones. But broadband is not just a faster way to connect to the Internet - it fundamentally changes the way people use it. Connections are immediate and large volumes of data can be transmitted almost instantly. Published on 25 August, the 'E-Communications Household Survey' involved interviews with 25,000 households about their use of the Internet and the type of technology they use to connect to it. Households were also surveyed about the type of telephony they use (fixed telephone lines, mobile connections, or both); the number and type of televisions they have; the availability of service packages or 'bundles'; and their use of the European emergency number. According to the survey, an average of 23 per cent of households across the EU connect to the Internet using a high speed connection, compared to 16 per cent that still use a 'narrowband' or dial-up connection. This means that at the EU25 level, the majority of households with Internet access use broadband technology. The popularity of broadband would appear to be spurred on by the number of people living in any one household. The more people there are, the more likely it is that the household will have broadband: only 12 per cent of single households have broadband compared to 34 per cent of households with four or more occupants. Of those connected to the Internet using broadband technology, a total of 80 per cent use an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) instead of cable, which accounts for only 17 per cent of connections. As might be expected, broadband is most popular in countries where the Internet itself is already widely surfed. The Netherlands tops the broadband board with 62 per cent of its households using this type of Internet access, followed by Denmark (49 per cent), Sweden (45) and Finland (41). However, there are exceptions to this rule. Take Germany, Slovenia and Luxembourg for example: while use of the Internet is above the EU 25 average, the uptake of broadband is low in these countries. The traditional dial-up connection also appears to be more popular in the new EU Member States and countries of the EU15 where there are significant rural populations. In Ireland, 29 per cent of all Internet access is narrowband, and 7 per cent broadband. Similar trends are visible in Hungary (25/5 per cent), Cyprus (21/1 per cent) and Greece (16/2 per cent). Hoping to shed some light on why some households still use 'narrowband' or slow dial-up connections, the survey asked households to indicate why they have yet to upgrade. A total of 40 per cent said they were satisfied with the speed of their dial-up connection and did not see the need to upgrade. Another frequently cited reason is the price of broadband, which 22 per cent of respondents felt was too high. A total of 14 per cent of households said that their area was not covered by broadband, while 13 said they planned to subscribe in the coming months. Respondents living in households connected to the Internet through 'narrowband' were then asked what factors might influence them to switch to broadband. Almost half of the respondents would be willing to change to broadband Internet if they could do so without paying fixed telephone line rental charges. About the same proportion would switch to broadband if the service was 20 per cent cheaper, whereas only one in three would switch if broadband was 10 per cent cheaper. 'This survey provides useful insights into consumer behaviour in today's constantly-evolving communication services market,' noted Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. 'I see these figures - in particular the fact that so many people are satisfied to stay with slow speed Internet access - as a challenge to operators and service providers to develop more attractive broadband offers both in terms of content and in terms of price, and I will do my part to ensure that enhanced competition will promote such a development.' One way to increase broadband take-up is through providing several services (television, Internet connection, mobile telephony) bundled together. The survey finds that a total of 18 per cent of the households interviewed already subscribe to at least one service package. The proportion is as high as 30 per cent in Estonia, 29 per cent in Luxembourg, and 25 per cent in Denmark, France and the UK. More than half of the respondents said that these packages were more convenient since they only had to pay one invoice.