According to a survey by the European Commission (EC), four out of ten Europeans households are buying "bundled" internet, phone and TV services from a single provider. The survey, conducted between 9 February and 8 March 2011, also found that 98% of European Union households have access to a telephone and an increasing proportion of households (89%) have access to a mobile phone. 62% have both fixed and mobile phones, while only 9% rely on a fixed line alone.
The EC survey also found that one in four respondents consider that their internet download/upload speeds do not match the conditions of their contract, and one in three said they have experienced connection breakdowns. Data privacy was also cited as a concern, with 88% of respondents saying that they would like to be informed if the personal data collected by their telecom provider was lost, stolen or altered in any way.
The Commission is already working to address these and other issues, and has asked the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to undertake a rigorous fact-finding exercise on barriers to changing operators, blocking or "throttling" internet traffic (for example voice over Internet services), transparency and quality of service. The Commission will publish evidence from BEREC's investigation by the end of the year.
Along with the results of the survey, the EC also released separate files for each EU country. In the case of Portugal, it was found that 95 percent of families had a telephone connection (fixed and/or mobile) and that 97 percent had access to the television service.
Further information:
- Digital Agenda: Europeans prefer all in one 'packages' for internet, phone and TV http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/858&format=HTML&aged=0&language=en&guiLanguage=en
- E-Communications Household Survey - Report http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/scoreboard/docs/pillar/studies/eb_ecomm/final_reports/reporteb751sp362infsoecommunications_en_final.pdf
- E-Communications Household Survey - Fact Sheets (Portugal) http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/scoreboard/docs/pillar/studies/eb_ecomm/country_fiches/eb751_fs_ecomm_pt_en.pdf
