42% of EU27 homes have broadband, Cyprus trails behind

In the EU27, 54% of households had access to the internet during the first quarter of 2007, compared with 49% during the first quarter of 2006, and 42% had a broadband connection, compared with 30% in 2006.

This data comes from the Eurostat survey on information and communication technologies (ICT) usage in households and by individuals in the EU27 member states, Norway and Iceland, but not Malta. As well as internet use and broadband connections the survey, entitled “Internet usage in 2007 Households and individuals” also covers e-shopping, e-government and e-skills.

Household internet access ranged from 19% in Bulgaria to 83% in the Netherlands.

In 2007, the highest proportions of households with internet access were recorded in the Netherlands (83%), Sweden (79%) and Denmark (78%). The lowest levels were registered in Bulgaria (19%), Romania (22%) and Greece (25%).

The proportion of households with a broadband connection in 2007 was also highest in the Netherlands (74%), Denmark (70%) and Sweden (67%).

A quarter of individuals chat online, 15% make phone calls over the internet.

In the first quarter of 2007 individuals in the EU member states were asked which internet related activities they had already carried out in order to measure their e-skills.

In the EU27, 57% of individuals had used internet search engines. Half of them had sent e-mails with attachments, while 30% said they kept viruses and spyware off their computers. Slightly more than one quarter had downloaded and installed software from the internet. Around one quarter of individuals had taken part in chatrooms, newsgroups or online discussions, and 15% had used the internet to make phone calls. Peer to peer file sharing for exchange of movies and music had been used by 13%. A tenth had created a web page.

The member states most often reporting high proportions of individuals performing these different internet activities were Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

In Cyprus, Internet access by households expanded from 37% in 2006 to 39% in 2007 (EU27 from 49% to 54%), while broadband use jumped from 12% to 20% (EU27 from 30% to 42%).

As regards Internet activities carried out in 2007, 37% of Cyprus individuals used search engines (EU27 57%), 29% sent e-mails with attachments (EU27 50%), 15% kept viruses and spyware off computers (EU 30%), 11% found, downloaded and installed software (EU27 27%), only 8% sent a message to a chatroom, newsgroup or online discussion (EU27 24%), 9% made phone calls via the Internet (EU27 15%), 7% used the Internet for peer to peer file sharing for movies and music (EU27 13%) and 5% created their own web page (EU27 10%).

The survey covered households containing at least one person aged 16-74, and individuals aged 16-74. The reference period was the first quarter of 2007. Households were asked about Internet access by any member of the household at home. Individuals were asked about internet related activities they had ever carried out, at home or at any other location, in order to measure their skills.