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The adoption of broadband access will be slow across Europe, contrary to marketplace projections.
Only 10 million households are likely to have broadband access by 2003, according to a report by Jupiter MMXI.
The uptake of broadband is likely to be gradual over the next five years, with only 14 percent of European households using broadband by 2005, according to the company.
In addition, only 32 percent of on-line households will be accessing the Internet from broadband by then.
The reasons for this includes the lack of competition among access operators, low customer demand, and the high price of technology, according to the company.
At present, a broadband connection costs over EUR200 and a monthly subscription is about EUR50 throughout Europe.
"The high prices currently being charged for broadband access means that the majority of consumers are discouraged from the technology," said Staffan Engdegard, the author of the report. "Price levels are way too high," he added
"To attract these people, companies need to improve their marketing message to ensure that Europeans understand the added value of broadband," he said. "Consumers are not really aware of broadband access."
At present, consumers are aware only of the improved Internet connection that broadband offers, with the result that the full potential of broadband has not yet been fully exploited, according to Jupiter.
Customers could, for example, have access to an unlimited choice of films on demand, better quality of music, the ability to play games over the Internet, software rental, e-books and e-learning.
The main reason that consumers said they would install a broadband connection would be to free their telephone line while using the Internet, according to the report.
In addition, 33 percent of respondents said they wanted broadband for faster Internet access, while 29 percent said they wanted it to download software more quickly.
The survey was conducted across seven European markets, with the Nordic region expected to adopt broadband the fastest. The UK is expected to have 15 percent of households using broadband by the end of 2005.
Overall, Europe is expected eventually to catch up with the US by 2005, according to Engdegard. The US is expected to have 29 million broadband users by 2005, with 23 million in Europe by then.
Although no figures are available for the Irish market, the government here has approved 13 public/private partnership e-commerce projects, including a nationwide broadband network.
The National Development Plan will involve the construction of the country's first State-wide broadband network, which will provide a telecoms infrastructure capable of supporting high-speed Internet and data services as far north as Buncrana in County Donegal.
However, the current regulatory regime in Ireland is resulting in declining investment in telecommunications infrastructure here, according to Eircom.
For its part, Eircom has decided to defer the introduction of a DSL-based TV/entertainment service and will focus instead on the introduction of a high-speed Internet DSL service by the second half of the financial year ending 31 March 2002, said the company.
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