05/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The availability and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) have considerably increased in Europe over the past ten years. According to data published recently by Eurostat, the same is true for the Central European Candidate (CEC) countries, that are applying for EU membership, although they still have to catch up the EU to a certain extent. Thus, the number of personal computers (PCs) and Internet hosts per 100 inhabitants in still relatively low in the CEC countries. In 1999, it was only about one quarter of the EU average. The CEC countries, however, record a strong growth in the number of PCs (+19% in 1999) and Internet hosts (+34% in 1999). The number of mobile phone subscriptions is also growing strongly (+85% in 1999). The differences between the CEC countries are considerable: while the density of PCs in Slovenia and of Internet hosts in Estonia is close to the EU average, it stands at only about 1/10 of the EU average in Bulgaria and Romania.