Posted: 20th May, 2003 By: MarkJ
New statistics from Jupiter Research suggest that the number of 'online' European households with broadband will overtake the USA by 2007. 48% of EU homes are expected to have some form of xDSL or cable modem access by then, which compares with 46% in the states:
This compares with figures from the end of 2002, showing that 81% of European online households accessed the internet via a narrowband connection. However, consumer interest in broadband is strong and the results of a Jupiter Research consumer survey show that 26% of narrowband internet users are likely to upgrade to broadband within a year.
Consumers who are keen to switch are currently hampered by limited broadband availability and poor communication of where the service is available, slowing migration from narrowband to broadband. These barriers will drop as improvements in broadband technology - such as better exchange equipment - will extend the geographical reach of broadband, says the report.The
netimperative.info item notes that the bulk of broadband households will be in Germany (12.2m), France (6.6m) and the U.K (8m); quite a turnaround.