Press Release: Household survey: Telecoms and broadband access in Europe

Almost one in four EU households is now connected to the internet via high-speed “broadband” links. Broadband’s popularity grows with household size – only 12% of single households have it, compared with 34% of those with four members or more. And, of those households that have only “narrowband” internet connections, 40% do not wish to upgrade, either because they are satisfied with the speed of their dial-up connection or because they do not use the internet enough to justify the higher cost of broadband. So says an EU-wide survey of 25,000 representative households, conducted between 7 December 2005 and 11 January 2006. The survey findings are summarized in a special Eurobarometer report published on 25 August 2006 as a contribution to the ongoing public debate on the review of the EU’s regulatory framework for electronic communications of 2002 (see IP/06/874).

European Commission: DG Information Society: E-communications Household Survey http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/doc/info_centre/studies_ext_consult/ecomm_household_study/eb_jul06_main_report_en.pdf

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