Broadband home users in Asia-Pacific spend three times longer online than narrowband subscribers, according to survey of Internet users conducted in August, and released Thursday by Nielsen/NetRatings.
Broadband users spend over 19 hours online every month, on average, compared to a narrowband subscriber’s average of six hours 30 minutes, the survey found. The Nielsen data shows a clear correlation between Internet usage and the speed of access to the Net, said Hugh Bloch, managing director for Nielsen/NetRatings in North Asia.
Broadband users outnumber narrowband users in Hong Kong and South Korea, according to the survey, with 53 per cent of Internet users in Hong Kong having broadband access, and a staggering 95 per cent in South Korea. Overall, 62 per cent of all Asia-Pacific Net surfers use broadband.
Australia and New Zealand have the lowest broadband penetration in the region, with only five per cent and four per cent of users respectively having high-speed access, the survey said. However, New Zealanders were the most frequent users of their broadband service, with 28 visits a month, compared to South Korea’s 27 visits per month and Hong Kong’s average of 26 visits.
Singapore and Taiwan showed steady increases in the number of broadband users. Singapore’s broadband users, who account for 24 per cent of all Internet subscribers there, spend almost 15 hours online every month, and Taiwan’s broadband subscribers, 35 per cent of Internet subscribers there, spend about 13 hours 30 minutes monthly.
South Korean broadband users spend a whopping 20 hours using their broadband service per month, viewing 2,530 pages per person on average. Hong Kong is a close second, with average monthly broadband usage of 18 hours online and 1,775 pages viewed, according to the Nielsen data.
South Korea’s 15 million broadband users make up almost 84 per cent of the region’s total of 19 million high-speed surfers, the survey found.
NetRatings Inc., in Milpitas, Calif., can be contacted at
http://www.netratings.com/