Broadband Penetration 48% in EC

With the caveat that there are wide variances between countries, broadband access services are used by about 48 percent of European Union households, the European Commission reports.

On average, household computer access has increased by seven percentage points to 64 percent of households. However, there is considerable country variation, the greatest incidence of household computer access is in the Netherlands (92%), Denmark
(87%) and Sweden (87%), while the lowest incidence is in Bulgaria (37%) and Romania (42%).

Over half of EU households have Internet access (57%), including both dial-up and broadband. Generally speaking, broadband access mirrors PC ownership. The Netherlands (89%), Denmark (85%) and Sweden (85%) exhibit the highest incidence of household Internet access and Bulgaria (35%) and Romania (31%) have the lowest rates of PC ownership.

About 48 percent of EC homes now use broadband, while seven percent use narrowband. By way of comparison, most surveys of U.S. broadband use suggest 60 to 65 percent of U.S. homes use broadband. The FCC recently has suggested 62 percent broadband uptake, while US Telecom uses a figure of 67 percent. Overall, including dial-up access and primary use outside the home, US Telecom says U.S. Internet access reaches 78 percent of homes.

What is different in Europe is the prevalence of telephone network connections, compared to use of cable modems. On average, most (62%) use an ADSL (telco) connection to access the Internet. In comparison, relatively few use the cable network (15%) to access the Internet,
which is the next most common connection type.

However, in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia more connect using the cable TV network than an ADSL connection.

Observers often note that some areas of the United States do not have any fixed-line access. In the EC countries, about 16 percent of respondents say they cannot buy broadband from any fixed-line providers in their areas.

Still, about 43 percent of EC households report they do not buy broadband access service. The majority of those without access claim that it is because no one in the home is interested in the Internet (58%). However, the various costs associated with the Internet are also cited as obstacles to access, although to a lower extent (19%).

Overall, computer access in the home is increasing across the EU; the proportion of households having a computer has increased by seven percentage points on average.

Almost two thirds of EU households have a computer. On average, computer ownership is greater in the countries that are long-time members of the EU, with two thirds (66%) of households having a computer. Computer ownership is lower among countries that have joined the EU more recently (53%).

The greatest incidence of computers in home is in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, where about nine out of ten households have a computer. Conversely, the lowest incidence is in Bulgaria and Romania where the proportion with a computer in home is less than half that in the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden.

read the report here