European broadband use jumped 136 percent between April 2002 and April 2003. And what was the driver? Porn and music, according to Neilsen/Netratings in a newly released report.
"The adult entertainment sector has increased its reach year-on-year in all European markets except Italy, where, not coincidentally, broadband access is the relative lowest in Europe," said the report, called "Broadband Revolutionizing Europe's Internet Behavior."
Britain had the largest broadband jump among individual countries, with a 236 percent rate in the reporting period, while 28 percent of all European cybersurfers use broadband compared to 14 percent the previous year, Neilsen said.
"The Internet is all about access," said Nielsen/Netratings European market analyst Tom Ewing in the report. "Initially, it was about access to information and people, then it widened to provide access to goods and services, and now with broadband it's able to expand further to provide easy access to entertainment."
Nielsen/Netratings anticipates as much as 50 million Europeans going broadband by early 2004, which would put Europe a mere three million broadband surfers behind the United States, the report said.
