Monday, April 9, 2001

Korea Leads World in Broadband Usage

More than half of Korean households use broadband, according to NetValue, a global leader in Internet Intelligence. In contrast, only one in 32 online households use broadband in the UK, which is still lagging far behind Asia, the rest of Europe and the US in home broadband connections.

Of the 11 countries studied, the US is second behind Korea in percentage of households connecting via broadband, where one in nine online households uses broadband. France has the highest percentage of broadband households in Europe, and with one in 16 online households having a broadband connection, twice the UK rate.

German ISDN usage
Although only 5 per cent of Internet households in Germany are using a broadband connection, Germany leads the other countries included in the report for ISDN usage. In February 2001, 37.8 per cent of German Internet households connected via ISDN, followed by Denmark with 19.5 per cent of households.

US broadband usage vs. modem usage
Compared to the Asian and European countries in this study, except for Korea, the US leads broadband usage with 11.1 per cent of households connecting via broadband in February. However, when comparing the 11.1 per cent of households in the US to the 57.3 per cent in Korea, broadband penetration in the US is significantly lower.

While infrastructure issues and access costs have played a major role in broadband penetration in the US, there has been relative growth over the past 6 months and specific user groups have emerged as "early adopters" of broadband--specifically, the 14 and under age group who account for 9.1 per cent of users connecting via broadband in February. In comparison, this age group only accounts for 6.7 per cent of modem usage and 6.8 per cent of the general Internet population. Another user group to note is the male population who account for 59.7 per cent of usage against their female counterparts at 40.3 per cent. When compared to modem users, who closely represent the general Internet population at 55 per cent male and 45 per cent female, a gender gap in broadband usage is evident.

When comparing broadband usage to modem usage in the US, it is not only important for businesses to recognize the growth potential of the market but also which user groups are the "early adopters." By recognizing that the 14 and under age group accounts for a significant portion of broadband usage, businesses that are directly and/or indirectly affected by broadband usage - cable operators who provide broadband access, entertainment sites who use audio/video or gaming sites - can use this intelligence to better target their marketing/advertising initiatives and tailor their product offerings to the 14 and under age group.

Global audio-video usage
Broadband allows users better access to richer online material. With more than half of Korean households (57.3 per cent) connecting via broadband, it is not surprising that 73.9 per cent of the Korean Internet population used audio or video in February, and over half (54.1 per cent) used a gaming protocol. Over a third of Internet users in Hong Kong used audio/video and Spain had the highest audio/video usage in Europe (33.8 per cent). In contrast, only 29.5 per cent of US Internet users and only 23.8 per cent of UK Internet users viewed video or used audio. Broadband and audio/video trends emerging in Korea are good indicators for what the future may hold in Europe and the US.

STORAGE AT THE EDGE: Have Data, Will Travel
Once upon a time storage was just a repository for data, but alas the Internet floodgates have opened, saturating businesses with trillions of emails and untold numbers of ecommerce transactions to administer. While each piece of customer information could prove invaluable to Internet savvy enterprise, simply storing, let alone effectively managing this horde of data, could bury the existing enterprise data storage infrastructure. For many, the notion of “Storage at the Edge”, the strategic placement and management of enterprise data across the network, offers a chance to regain control of the myriad stores in the enterprise. But are enterprises successfully rising to the challenge?

To answer this and other salient questions, Zona Research announces the release of its latest Zona Market Report, Storage At The Edge: Have Data, Will Travel.

“Traditionally, data storage has not generated the buzz associated with trendier technologies, but the ongoing avalanche of Internet-enabled information has transformed storage from a luxury into a necessity, “ said Charles King, Senior Industry Analyst, Zona Research. “The participants in Zona’s Storage at the Edge survey believe these solutions offer their organizations affordable, adaptable methods of answering the ongoing challenges of data storage.”