Brussels, 10 Sep 2002
A survey of Internet connection speeds by Europeans at home has shown that German households have the highest level of broadband connections.
The survey by Nielsen/NetRatings, which was limited to seven major EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK) showed that 39 per cent of German households are connected with broadband. Second in the survey is Sweden with 33 per cent of households having high speed connection. These two lead by some distance from the rest, with the Netherlands next on 20 per cent, Spain and Italy on 18 per cent and France on 17 per cent.
One of the big surprises is that the UK comes last by some distance, with just nine per cent of its households connected to broadband. Tom Ewing, an analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, said that the figures could put the UK government's targets in danger. 'What we are seeing here is an improvement, but not much of one. Broadband is growing [in the UK] but the government's stated target of being the G7 leader in broadband connectivity by 2005 is absurd if you set it against current rates of growth.'
One of the most surprising comparisons was that the UK figure was so much lower than France, which actually has a lower Internet penetration rate than the UK.
For further information, please consult the following web address: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/pr/pr_ 020909_uk.pdf