BEREC REPORT ON IMPACT OF FIXED-MOBILE ... - berec - Europa

BoR (11) 54
Scoreboard 2011report showed that growth in fixed broadband access in 2010 was the
lowest since 2003.
In Q4 2009, the E-communication household survey indicated that 4%of households
with Internet access only use mobile networks to access the Internet 26 . The majority
(85%) of those using just the mobile network to gain access to the Internet feel that this
meets the needs of everyone in the household. For these households, which according
to the E-communication household survey still represent a relatively narrow segment,
mobile Internet access can potentially be regarded as a substitute for fixed line Internet
access.
However, as discussed earlier, it may also be the case that some of these mobile-only
households represent a new source of market demand for which mobile internet suits a
particular need.
4.2.2. Local differences
Broadband access
As for voice, the trend for FMS of data services may differ significantly depending on
the country considered. Without prejudice to a particular country case analysis, these
local differences can be caused by:
Different levels of mobile broadband adoption;
Different percentage of mobile data-only households among households
connected to the Internet.
Use of the mobile phone network (via an Internet card or USB modem that is plugged
into the computer or a computer connected to the Internet via a mobile phone or
directly via the mobile phone itself) to connect to the Internet at home has shown an
increase since winter 2009 (+3 percentage points) 27 . This type of access is most
common in Finland, where around three in ten access the Internet this way (29%).
Conversely, in Belgium (3%), France (3%), Luxembourg (3%) and Malta (3%) use is
comparatively low (cf. Annex 1).
26 E-communication household survey (2010) – “Most households (six out of ten) are connecting to the mobile network
via an Internet card or USB modem that is plugged into the computer. A third is connecting through a mobile phone and
only one in seven are using a computer connected to the Internet via a mobile phone.”
27 Source – E-communication household survey (2011).
Remark: “the survey tackles two different issues regarding mobile Internet connections. On the one hand the results
presented in this chapter on the usage of the mobile phone network to connect to the internet at home and on the other
hand the mobile subscriptions allowing connecting to the Internet. It is not because people have a mobile phone
allowing them to surf on the Internet that they mainly use this device to connect to the Internet when they are at home.”
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