NetGuido

A report published by Euro stat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, presents the results of surveys on Internet access and broadband connections to households and businesses, as well as Internet usage by individuals, In the European Union of 25 Member States (EU25). The report also covers electronic commerce. This study indicates that 48% of households in the European Union (EU25) had access to the Internet in the first quarter of 2005 and 23% had a broadband connection.



The rate of Internet access of households ranged from 16% in Lithuania and 78% in the Netherlands. In the first quarter of 2005, the highest percentage of households with Internet access was recorded in the Netherlands (78%), Luxembourg (77%), Denmark (75%) and Sweden (73%). The lowest levels were observed in Lithuania (16%), Czech Republic (19%), Greece and Hungary (22%) and Slovakia (23%). The percentage of households with a broadband connection in 2005 was highest in the Netherlands (54%), Denmark (51%), Belgium (41%) and Sweden (40%) and lowest in Greece (1%), Cyprus (4%), Czech Republic (5%) and Slovakia (7%). Broadband will offer much faster connection to the Internet and can change its mode of use. In addition, in early 2005, 91% of companies had Internet access and 63% a broadband connection. In early 2005, the highest proportions of enterprises with Internet access were recorded in Finland (98%), Denmark (97%), Slovenia and Sweden (96%). Only in Latvia (75%), Hungary (78%), Cyprus (85%), Lithuania (86%) and Poland (87%) less than 90% of enterprises connected to Internet. Also for enterprises, levels of broadband connections were the highest in Sweden (83%), Denmark (82%), Finland (81%) and Belgium (78%) and lowest in Cyprus ( 40%), Poland (43%) and Greece (44%). The survey also provides information on the frequency of Internet use in the EU25: the first quarter of 2005, 43% of individuals in the EU25 used the Internet regularly, ie at least once per week, either at home or in another place. The levels of regular use the highest were recorded in Sweden (76%), the Netherlands (74%) and Denmark (73%) and lowest in Greece (18%), Czech Republic and Cyprus (26%). At EU25 level, a higher percentage of men than women used the Internet regularly (49% against 38%), this was true for all Member States, even if the gap was only one percentage point in Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary. While more than three quarters of students (79%) and more than half of employees (55%) in the EU25 used the internet regularly, less than one third of the unemployed (32%) did so. While the gap between Member States ranged from one to two for students (48% in Greece to 97% in the Netherlands) and one to three for employees (28% in Greece to 85% in the Country Netherlands), the difference ranged from one to twelve for the unemployed (7% in Lithuania to 87% in the Netherlands). The percentage of people who had never used the Internet was the same as for regular users, 43% in the EU25. It should be noted that in the EU25, nearly one in two women and one unemployed person in two has never used the Internet, against less than 10% of students, less than 30% of employees and less than 40 % Of men. The report contains numerous tables and graphs.