PC and broadband penetration on the increase


8 Nov 2006

PC penetration in Ireland jumped to 59pc of all households in 2006 compared with 46pc in 2004, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have revealed.

The figures show that broadband penetration has also shown a sharp increase from 7pc of households in the third quarter of 2005 to over 13pc of all households — or one in every eight households — in the first quarter of this year.

According to the CSO, almost 61pc of businesses in Ireland with 10 or more employees used broadband in the first quarter of 2006, up from 48pc the previous year.

The number of households who access the internet on home computers continues to rise with 49pc of all households now connecting to the internet.

The proportion of households with a home computer that use it to connect to the internet is 83pc.

The CSO figures are based on surveys of ICT and e-commerce usage by households and enterprises that were conducted in the first quarter of this year.

By John Kennedy