Almost half (45%) of Europeans are now willing to upgrade their subscription or change their supplier in order to obtain higher broadband speeds, according to the latest EU-wide Eurobarometer survey.
In looking at how Europeans use the internet, it also found that due to insufficient speed or download capacity, around 40% have found it difficult to access online contentt and apps because of insufficient speed or download capacity. Other key findings included:
20% said they sometimes found it difficult to access online content or had apps blocked on mobile phones (up 4 percentage points December 2011). This was more likely to occur when trying to watch videos (42%), listen to music (22%), download video content for free (22%), watch live events (20%) or play online games (19%)
Video blocks are the most annoying net neutrality / copyright issue
45% of households purchase a bundle of communications services (eg a combination of television, broadband, phone, mobile services) from the same provider
40% (of the 45% of households) have considered changing their bundle provider, but 29% say it is it is not easy to compare the terms of bundle packages
Commenting on the desire for higher speeds, European Commission VP Neelie Kroes said: “Consumers increasingly care about their internet being fast enough to watch videos, for example. And for those who run businesses from their home, speed is also a competitiveness issue. Consumers now focus on both speed and price when making their choices.”
