Internet

摘要

Europeans increasingly want more mobile bandwidth but are worried about the cost, the EuropeannCommission said Tuesday. Its latest e-communications household survey (http://bit.ly/13gURIK)npolled nearly 27,000 people across the then 27 EU countries and Croatia face-to-face at home innMarch. It found that while mobile phones are everywhere, only half are smartphones due to fearsnabout high charges. The subscription rate of smartphones in Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Finland,nFrance and the Netherlands was 55 percent compared to below 35 percent in Belgium, Greece, Hungary,nCyprus, Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal, it said. More than half of citizens limit calls to nationalnand international numbers from their mobiles, it said. Broadband access at home, however, is anreality for almost 73 percent of households, up from 67.3 percent in 2011, it said. The survey alsonfound that the line between phone and Internet is blurring fast, with 34 percent of respondents nownmaking VoIP calls. Ensuring that consumer expectations can be met at an affordable price is one ofnthe goals of the “connected continent” package the EC will unveil in September, Digital Agenda CommissionernNeelie Kroes said.