Brussels, 26/08/2013 (Agence Europe) - Europeans are increasingly interested in new technology, as the latest E-Communications Household Survey carried out across the whole European Union shows. However, they are concerned about the cost of these services, says the European Commission in a press release published in mid-August. “Ensuring consumers' expectations can be met at an affordable price is one of the aims of the Connected Continent package, which will be presented by the Commission in September”, said European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes.
Mobile phones are now everywhere, but only half are smartphones. The proportion rises to around 55% in Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Finland, France and the Netherlands, but is less than 35% in Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal. This lower penetration of smartphones is a feature of the many countries where mobile internet access subscribers limit time spend online for reasons linked to cost, the Commission notes. Over half of EU citizens limit their calls, for these reasons, from their mobile to national (55%) and international (54%) numbers. This proportion rises to over 70% for national calls from a mobile phone in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Romania. Furthermore, for 72.5% of EU households now have broadband access at home (compared to 67.3% in 2011). The Commission also notes that the division between phone and internet is blurring fast. Indeed, 34% of households use the internet to make voice calls (Voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP), in other words seven percentage points more than in 2011. This type of communication is particularly popular in Bulgaria (57%), Cyprus (55%), Estonia (54%), and Lithuania and Latvia (51%). By contrast, VOIP is less used in Portugal (18%), Italy (26%), Spain (28%) and Greece (29%). (IL/transl.fl)