Broadband Doubles Share in Europe
June 2 2003
More than a quarter of Europe's online population are now using Broadband, according to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. Countries which have been slower to get online are in the vanguard of broadband take-up with many users skipping the dial-up stage altogether.
In the 13 months from April 2002 to April 2003, the number of European surfers using high-speed Internet connections (which includes DSL, LAN and Cable Modem) grew by 136%, according to the research. The UK experienced the largest increase, 235%. Overall, 28% of European Internet users are now connected at high speed, up from 14% in April last year.
Europe has narrowed the gap with the US, where the research found 35% of the population surf the web using a broadband connection, but both figures are dwarfed by some of the Asia Pacific markets, with 82% of Hong Kong's Internet population connected via broadband.
Percentage of Internet Users with Broadband, April 2003
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings At Home data April '02-April '03Penetration rates for individual countries show that some European markets have already overtaken the US in terms of broadband take-up, notably in France and Spain. The UK, Germany, and Italy are Europe's three largest single Internet markets in terms of % of the population online, but are still lagging behind despite their recent rapid growth on broadband uptake.
'What these figures show is that the countries with the highest broadband take-up are those that are also growing rapidly in terms of online use in general', commented European Market Analyst Tom Ewing. 'The countries where Internet penetration is greatest and has been longer established, like the UK and Germany, have become used to dial-up connections, and broadband is being sold as an upgrade. But in France and Spain users have leapfrogged the technology and first-time Internet surfers are getting connected via broadband, by-passing the slower dial-up completely.'
Average time (hours/month) spent online in April 2003 by users on Broadband versus Narrowband connections
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings At Home data April '02-April '03
This 'broadband boom' is significantly altering the way users behave online. Across Europe broadband users are spending significantly more time online, using the web more often, and visiting more websites, than their slower, dial-up counterparts. In Germany, for instance, narrowband users spend on average seven and a half hours on the web every month, whereas for broadband users this increases to 21 hours per month.
The sites that draw the majority of their audience from broadband surfers include file-sharing sites, music sites, film sites and adult sites. The adult entertainment sector has increased its reach year-on-year in all European markets except Italy, which has the lowest broadband: narrowband ratio in Europe.
If current growth rates continue, then by March 2004 over 50 million Europeans will be connected at high speed, and the USA will have only three million broadband surfers more. 'Broadband is finally taking off,' says Ewing, 'And next year we might well be approaching the tipping point, after which high-speed access will be the norm not the exception, and the web will be designed with the high-speed user in mind. That's when things will really get exciting'.
Nielsen//NetRatings is the leading global provider of Internet audience measurement and analysis and covers 70% of the world's Internet usage. For more information visit
www.nielsen-netratings.com
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
