§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
What conclusions they draw from the recent report from Jupiter MMXI indicating that United Kingdom Internet surfers are now spending an average of seven hours per month per net user online as compared with figures for Germany, Spain and Italy of 13, 9 and 8 hours respectively; and to what extent the Government believe that these figures can be explained by the relative costs of Internet services in each country. [HL1567]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord. Sainsbury of Turville)The length of time that any individual chooses to spend connected to the Internet is only one measure of internet usage. The same Jupiter MMXI survey confirmed that the UK has the largest number of residential net users in Europe. Any measure is likely to be influenced by a number of factors of which price will be only one.
The UK has a vibrant market in Internet service provision, with both pay-as-you-go and unmetered packages available to consumers. The latest set of results from OFTEL's benchmarking studies compared the dial-up Internet service costs—adjusted for purchasing power—for residential users in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and the US states of Ohio and California. The figures show that overall the UK consumer had access to the lowest prices of the countries considered for residential off-peak access. 150WA The latest OECD survey using similar measures for a more limited set of service providers also showed that the UK consumers benefited from cheaper off-peak connection than those in Germany and Spain and approximately equal to those in Italy.