This is the CSO's third report on information society statistics. It brings together a range of statistics from CSO surveys on ICT usage by households and businesses; statistics compiled by ComReg; and international comparisons compiled by Eurostat and the OECD.

Increasing use of ICT by Households

• An estimated 797,700 households (or 54.9%) have a home computer compared to 649,400 households (or 46.2%) in 2004. Just over 82% of households who had a home computer used it to connect to the internet.
• An estimated 817,300 people used a computer every day or almost every day while an estimated 528,800 people in Ireland used the internet at least once a day.
• The most popular activities on the internet relate to (1) Information search and online services, (2) Communication (e-mail) and (3) Interaction with public authorities.
• The most common internet purchases are (1) Travel and holiday accommodation, (2) Films and music and (3) Tickets for events.
• An estimated 45% of households in Ireland had an internet connection compared with an EU average of 48%. Over 70% of households in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden had internet access.

Broadband

• The number of broadband subscribers increased from 63,100 in the second quarter of 2004 to just over 176,000 in the corresponding quarter of 2005. The number of metered dial-up internet subscribers dropped from 595,000 to 542,000 over the same period.
• An estimated 16% of households in Ireland with internet access used broadband compared to an EU average of 48%.

Use of ICT in Business

• Virtually all enterprises in Ireland use computers and have access to e-mail and the internet.
• An estimated 60% of enterprises have a website and primarily use it to market their products and make catalogues and price lists available.
• The survey shows that 30% of enterprises had sales using e-commerce, which accounted for 21% of total turnover. Almost 58% of businesses have made purchases using e-commerce, which accounted for 10% of total purchases.

Increasing use of Internet Security measures

• The use of virus checking or protection software increased in 2005. These were used by 87% of all enterprises and 71% of persons who used the internet.
• About two in every five internet users said they had encountered a security problem resulting in either loss of time or information.

Irish mobile users send 3.6 billion text messages

• In 2004 Irish mobile users sent 3.6 billion text messages. This equates to an average of 887 messages per person.
• The number of mobile voice minutes was almost 4.8 billion in 2004.
• In the second quarter of 2005 there were 3.8 million mobile subscribers, resulting in a mobile penetration rate of 94%.
• Total revenue in the telecommunications sector was €3.9 billion in 2004.

The publication can be purchased from the

Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork

or

Government Publications Sale Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.

Price: €10.00

The report is also available free of charge on the CSO website www.cso.ie

For further information contact:

Business Statistics Integration Division
Central Statistics Office

Phone: Locall 1890 313 414 / (021) 453 5501 / (021) 453 5503 / (021) 453 5538
Fax: (021) 453 5553
Internet: www.cso.ie

28 February 2006

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