Mobile broadband packages soaring reports Eurostat

Eurostat, the Directorate General of the European Commission said that through out Europe, in businesses, the use of mobile and fixed-line broadband connectivity, has increased in 2011. In the UK, 87% of businesses have fixed broadband and 52% have a mobile connection.

According to Eurostat, 95% of the enterprises, across the 27 EU member states, had some sort of internet access in January and the fixed broadband penetration stood at 87%. Last year in the corresponding month the figure was 84%.

As far as the businesses in the UK are concerned, 92% of them are making use of the advanced technology, which is well above the average. The study points out that, though there is a rise in the use of this form of internet service, the increase in the use of mobile broadband packages is greater.

The proportion of businesses with mobile broadband connections has grown up in all member states during the period 2010 and 2011 but the usage of mobile broadband in the UK has grown from 36% to 52%. In Estonia the usage increased from nine to 48 per cent, in Germany it was from 22% to 57%, Greece from 6% to 38% and finally France from 28 per cent to 60 per cent.

Ericsson, the largest provider of telecommunications in Sweeden recently reported that the global number of mobile broadband connections will rise from 900 million to 5 billion by 2016.

In its publication Eurostat says that across the European Union two thirds of the companies and in particular four-fifths in the Britain, had a website. However, less than one fifths of these websites offer some form of online booking or reservation or online ordering. On the other hand almost all websites are being used by majority of enterprises through out the continent for information purposes. In the UK majority businesses, say around 80%, use internet to obtain information from websites of public authorities and 85% use it for submitting forms electronically.