World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2011

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The 2011 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day highlights the theme of better life in rural communities with information-communication technologies (ICT). The increasing importance of ICT in everyday life can lead to better conditions to generate income and development of rural areas. ICT can be used in combating poverty, hunger, illiteracy and ill health that threaten rural areas.

Fewest broadband connections in sparsely populated areas

In the first quarter of 2010, 68% of households in Slovenia had Internet access (EU-27 70%). Among other things, Internet access depends on the level of urbanisation of the areas in which households live: the share of households with Internet access was the highest in medium populated areas – 75% (72% in the EU-27). In densely populated areas 68% of households had Internet access (74% in the EU-27), whereas in sparsely populated areas the share of households with Internet access was 63% (60% in the EU-27).

62% households accessed the Internet via fixed or mobile broadband connection. The lowest share was recorded in sparsely populated areas – 55% (EU-27 50%), where access via fixed or mobile narrowband connection was the highest (8%). In densely populated areas the share of broadband Internet access was 64% (EU-27 66%) and in medium populated areas 69% (EU-27 63%).

Some households do not have the Internet because they do not need it

In the first quarter of 2010, 32% of households did not have Internet access. 64% of these households did not need the Internet, 58% did not have appropriate knowledge and 26% did not want to have it. Most households without Internet access (37%) were in sparsely populated areas. In sparsely populated areas 64% of households did not need the Internet, 62% did not have the Internet due to lack of knowledge and 23% did not want to have it.

In densely populated areas 35% of households did not want to have the Internet and in medium populated areas 24%.

People in sparsely populated areas rarely use the Internet

In the first quarter of 2010, 70% of people in Slovenia aged 10-74 years were Internet users (they used the Internet at least once in the past three months); 56% of them used the Internet every day or almost every day. The share of Internet users was the highest in medium populated areas (75%), where 60% of people used the Internet every day or almost every day. In densely populated areas 71% of people were Internet users and 58% of people were using it every day or almost every day. In sparsely populated areas 65% of people were Internet users and 51% of people were using it every day or almost every day.

In densely populated areas mobile Internet access more frequent

In the first quarter of 2010, wireless Internet access via laptop was used by 12% of people aged 10-74 years. In densely populated areas the share was 15%, and in medium and sparsely populated areas 12%.

17% of people aged 10-74 years accessed the Internet via a mobile phone; 13% of them via a mobile phone with a narrowband connection (e.g. WAP, GPRS) and 10% via a mobile phone with a broadband connection (e.g. UMTS, HSDPA). This type of access was the most frequent in densely populated areas (18%), while in medium populated areas the share was 17% and in sparsely populated areas 16%.

Use of social networks the most frequent in medium populated areas

In the first quarter of 2010, 30% of people aged 10-74 years had profiles on social networks. The most frequently people who had their profiles on social networks lived in medium populated areas (35%), followed by those living in densely populated areas (28%) and sparsely populated areas (27%).

In searching for a job and sending job applications people in sparsely populated areas less frequently used the Internet (12%) than those living in densely (15%) and medium populated areas (13%). Differences in Internet use by level of urbanisation are also evident in the use of e-banking, which was used by 24% of people in sparsely populated areas, 29% people in medium populated areas and 31% of people in densely populated areas. The share of people searching health-related information was 38% in sparsely populated areas and 46% in densely and medium populated areas.

In the first quarter of 2010, 26% of people in Slovenia aged 10-74 years had purchased something over the internet in the past 12 months, the highest share being recorded in medium populated areas (32%) and the lowest in sparsely populated areas (22%).

People in medium populated areas with the most advanced e-skills

In the first quarter of 2010, 71% of people aged 10-74 years had already used a browser for searching information on the Internet. In medium populated areas the share was 76%, in densely populated areas 73% and in sparsely populated areas 66%.

The situation was similar as regards sending e-mails with attached files. This type of communication was the most frequently used by people living in medium populated areas (64%), while the share for densely populated areas was 58% and for sparsely populated areas 54%. In sending messages to chat rooms, newsrooms and web forums, the share of users was the lowest in sparsely populated areas (25%), followed by densely populated areas (31%) and medium populated areas (35%). As regards the use of the Internet for phoning, the difference by population density was smaller: 25% in densely populated areas, 22% in medium populated areas and 20% in sparsely populated areas.