1

Study conducted by CREDOC

forConseil Général des Technologies de l'Information

(CGTI)

andAutorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes

(ARCEP)

Press conference

22 November 2006

The diffusion of information technologiesin France

2

Th

e B

asic

s

Survey conducted through face-to-face interviews during the month of June 2006

With 2 228 people representative of the population aged 12 years and over

Describes the equipment ownership and uses of individuals (and not households)

This survey was conducted for the seventh year in a row

Methodology

3

Contents

• Equipment and access

Fixed telephony – mobile telephony – unbundling – personal computer – Internet (and obstacles to its development) - web use – television

• Uses

Increasing daily use – work or home: contrasting changes –Uses diversify

• The diffusion of technologies

Numeric inequities - Differences in use and perception depending on the generation -Differences between men and women

4

• Equipment and access

Fixed telephony and mobile telephony

Unbundling

Personal computer

Internet (and obstacles to its development)

Web use

Television

5

The fixed telephony equipment rate stops decreasing while the mobile telephony rate continues to grow 

Tele

ph

on

e

eq

uip

men

t ra

te

For the first time since the mid 1990s, the equipment rate in fixed telephony has stabilised thanks to the maturity of unbundling and "triple play" offers.

Close to one in four people now owns a mobile telephone (74% ; +4 points in one year)

Fixed and mobile telephony equipment rate of adults Scope: people aged 18 years and over

90 88 87 86 84

47

60 6268 70

74

8382

55

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fixed telephony Mobile telephony

6

Fixed telephony: unbundling imposedU

nb

un

dlin

g Unbundling is growing: the number of adults stating that they had an unbundled telephone line doubled between June 2005 and June 2006 (from 3 to 7%).

The number of people subscribing to France Telecom and an alternative operator fell for the first time since 2000 (from 25 to 22%): this is a consequence of the development of full unbundling

Breakdown of the population according to the household telephony equipment (as a %) Scope: 18 years and up

10 12 14 16 18 17

81 73 67 64 54 54

9 15 19 2025 22

3 7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

No f ixed telephone France Telecom only

France Telecom and another operator Other operator only

7

Tele

ph

on

es Following a period during which we observed a substitution effect between fixed and mobile, people now

prefer to own both

Telephony equipment

Breakdown of the population by telephony equipment (as a %)Scope: people aged 18 years and up

36 32 28 25

5053 54 59

12 14 16 15

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2003 2004 2005 2006

No telephone Fixed only Fixed and mobile Mobile only

8

Rise in computer equipmentG

row

th

The rise in computer equipment ownership in the home, while holding steady for the past three years, should see two-thirds of the population equipped by 2009. Four-fifths of teens aged 12 to 17 have a computer in the home (up 5%).

Now, 12% of the population has more than one computer in the home.

Proportion of individuals having at least one computer in the home

2328

34 36 3946 50 53 57

6975 78

83

0102030405060708090

100

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

%

Aged 18 and up 12-17 years

9

The number of individuals with an Internet connection in the home continues to grow

Con

necti

on The number of individuals with an Internet connection in the home continues to grow (43%

compared with 39% in 2005). The intention to buy access in the next 12 months has never been so high for adults (22% in 2006 compared with 16% in 2005 and 9% in 2000).

Now, two-thirds of teens aged 12 to 17 have a connection in the home.

Equipment rate of computers and Internet in the homeScope: people aged 18 and up

23%

28%

34%36%

39%

46%

50%

53%

57%

4%6%

14%

19%

23%

30%

35%

39%

43%

19%

30%

38%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Computer

Internet

High-speed Internet

10

The number of individuals connecting to Internet continues to grow

Web

use

We now see 55% of those 12 years and up using the web, including all the various means and locations for connections.

37

25

11 2 7

5242

27

13

55

5 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Home Work orschool

Public place Public placew ith ow n

computer (Wi-f i)

Via mobilephone

All connectionlocations

2005 2006

11

Access

77% of adults have television using a traditional antenna, 25% by satellite, 13% by cable, 10% by digital terrestrial television and 6% by ADSL. Television on mobile telephone service has been introduced too recently to provide significant results (1% of adults report using this service and 2% plan to do so in the next 12 months).

Television in the home: multi-access is confirmed

Porportion of individuals with television access via one of the following media: (as a %)

77

25

13 10 7 51

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Antenna Satellite Cable Digitalterrestrial

ADSL Internet oncomputer

Mobiletelephone

12

Ob

sta

cle

s Young people are more aware of the importance of protecting their personal data, and they consider this to be the leading obstacle to Internet use: for 25% of young people, insufficient protection of personal data is the leading obstacle to Internet use, compared with 20% of the entire population.

Obstacles to Internet development

Which of the following elements do you consider to be the greatest obstacle to Internet use today?Scope: entire population

As a %Personal data are not sufficiently protected on Internet 20Internet is too complicated to use 17Internet is not useful for daily life 12It's too expensive (equipment to be bought, subscriptions) 10After-sales service and assistance are not satisfactory 9The quality of the service (response times, down times, etc.) is not satisfactory 6None of these obstacles 23Don't know 3Total 100

13

Su

mm

ary

The first step to entering the new technologies world involves buying a telephone (fixed or mobile). The second is buying a computer. The third is connecting to Internet.

Chronology of equipment

Equipment in the homeScope: people aged 18 and up

90% 88% 87% 86% 84% 82% 83%

47%

55%60% 62%

68% 70%74%

34% 36%39%

46%50%

53%57%

14%19%

23%30%

35%39%

43%

19%

30%

38%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fixed phone

Mobile phone

Personnal computer

Internet

High-speed Internet

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• Uses

- Increasingly daily use

- Work or home: contrasting development

- Uses diversify

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Fre

qu

en

cy

of

use

•89% of adults owning a personal computer actually use it

•The proportion of those using a computer or Internet daily grows strongly every year: 65% of people with a computer in the home use it every day| (+9 points over 2005)

Increasingly daily use

Frequency of Internet use in the homeScope: people having Internet in the home

48%

56%

65%

41%35%

27%

11% 9% 8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2004 2005 2006

Daily Less frequently Never

16

Inte

rnet

at

work

Internet connections at work, school or public places remained stable for the second year in a row, confirming the trend revealed by the 2005 survey. This change is contrasted by an increase in equipment and connection rates in the home.

Work or home: contrasting development

Proportion of individuals with Internet access at work or school

7279

7479

56

64

56

47

3138 37 39

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2003 2004 2005 2006

12-17 year olds Students over 18

Working population

Proportion of individuals w ith Internet access at home

40

4955

66

3035

3943

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2003 2004 2005 2006

12-17 year olds 18 years and up

17

Dow

nlo

ad

s We’re seeing strong growth in music downloads by young people (30% to 43% between June 2005 and June 2006). Adults are downloading more films (12% to 16% between June 2005 and June 2006), and software (30% to 36%).

Uses are changing (I)

Blo

gs a

nd

p

ers

on

al sit

es

Creating a web site Internet or weblog (blog) is one of the common uses of Internet which requires few skills. This activity is practiced by 9% of the population and 17% of web users. The younger the user, the more likely they are to create content on Internet (37% of 12-17 year olds, 25% of 18-25 year olds, 12% of 25-40 year olds and 8% of 40-60 year olds).

18

Ele

ctr

on

ic

com

merc

e

The success of electronic commerce was confirmed in 2006: 27% of the population and 47% of web users have made purchases on Internet during the past 12 months. 33% of the population plan to make purchases in the next 12 months.

Trust in the security of payments is growing: the percentage of adults buying on Internet who hesitate to make purchases over Internet because of fear of poor payment security declined from 41 to 36% between June 2005 and June 2006.

Uses are changing (II)

Ele

ctr

on

ic

ad

min

istr

ati

on

Administrative or taxation procedures performed over Internet are becoming more common: 59% of web users have done so in 2006 (48% in 2005 and an increase of 15 points over two years).

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Tele

ph

on

e

People are telephoning using new media. In June 2006, of those aged 12 and up who telephoned using Internet:

•17% used a box (Freebox, 9box, Livebox, Cbox, etc.), connected to a telephone jack

•6% used the computer with a microphone and software like Skype or Net Meeting (or a Wengo box)

•Some use both methods

Uses are changing (III)

Fixed telephone and Internet equipment with those 12 and up 2005 2006Own no fixed telephone 18% 17%Own fixed telephone, but no Internet subscription 42% 39%Own fixed telephone and Internet subscription 40% 44% . o/w: high-speed connection 30% 40% . o/w: telephone via ADSL (Freebox, Livebox, etc.) 7% 17% . o/w: telephone via computer (Skype, Messenger) 4% 6%

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• The diffusion of information and communication technologies in France

- Digital inequalities

- Differences between the generations

- Differences in uses of information and communication technologies between men and women

21

Digital inequalities (I)

Majo

r d

iffere

nces

pers

ist While inequalities in equipment ownership are decreasing for computers and Internet, they are still

significant. They depend strongly on age, income, education and occupational group.

Internet equipment rate in the home - comparison 2003 / 2006

82

74

73

38

22

12

6

66

67

60

21

14

9

5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Upper management

Income > € 3100 / month

University educated

Blue collar

Income < € 900 / month

No higher education

Aged 70 and over

2003

2006

22

Digital inequalities (II)

Majo

r d

iffere

nces

pers

ist

Of those individuals aged 12 years and over with no access to a computer at work, school or home (close to 19 million people):

•53% are over the age of 60

•76% live alone or with one other person

•88% have not completed high school

•70% are unemployed (including 47% retired and 19% housewives)

•54% earn less than 1 500 euros per month

23

Eq

uip

men

t

There continue to be major equipment differences between generations. Uses and frequency are also different (blogs, radio on Internet, downloads, etc.).

The generation gap (I)

Generational differences in personal equipment ow nership

31%

11%6%

74%

60%

45%

97%

73%

53%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Mobile telephone Personnal computer Internet in the home

Over age of 70

Total population

Youth aged 18-24

24

Com

pu

ter

an

d

Inte

rnet

Three-quarters of those owning a personal computer also have Internet. Young people are more advanced when it comes to computer equipment:

•66% of those aged 12-17 own a personal computer with Internet

•21% of those aged 60-69 own a personal computer with Internet

The generation gap (II)

Computer and home Internet equipement ownership by those 12 and up

6653 59 50

216

1720 18

13

15

50

20

40

60

80

100

12-17 years 18-24 years 25-39 years 40-59 years 60-69 years 70 years andover

Computer w ith Internet Computer w ithout Internet

25

Eq

uality

at

last?

There is no significant different between men and women when it comes to information and communication technology ownership or use.

The observed differences concern downloads, telephony on IP and computer equipment purchases on Internet.

The gender gap

“Equipment" covers the entire population“Type and frequency of use" covers the following populations: “Own personal computer in the home", “Computer and Internet user", “Have made purchases on Internet"

Men Women TotalEquipmentMobile telephone 76% 72% 74%Computer in the home 62% 57% 60%Internet in the home 47% 43% 45%Type and frequency of useDaily computer use in the home 60% 54% 57%Software downloading 37% 25% 31%Computer purchases over Internet 50% 34% 43%

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Questions / Answers

Françoise Roure

President of the Economic and Legal Division of Conseil Général des Technologies de l'Information (CGTI)Contact: marie-line.paran@industrie.gouv.fr or +33 (0)1 53 18 55 70

Michel Feneyrol

Board Member of Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP)Contact: sylvie.dumartin@arcep.fr or +33 (0)1 40 47 71 15