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Impact of COVID-19 on ICT Usage by Households

Household Internet Connectivity

Household internet access increases to 93% in March

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Irish life has changed following the introduction of the measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. People are at home a lot more now, with schools and many workplaces closed. Household internet connectivity increased during this time, from 92% of households surveyed in January to 93% of households having an internet connection in March. Fixed broadband is the most common type of internet access in the household. Of households surveyed in March, nearly nine in every ten (88%) had a fixed broadband internet connection, an increase of five percentage points on January. Mobile broadband connectivity also increased, albeit marginally, from 42% of households surveyed in January to 43% of households surveyed in March (following the implementation of the Government COVID-19 emergency measures). Note that more than one type of internet connection may be used in households. See Tables 7.1 and 7.2.

Further Regional (NUTS3) analysis is available in Table 7.1, Map 7.1 and Map7.2.

Table 7.1 Percentage of households with internet access, January and March 2020

Table 7.2 Households with internet access classified by type of internet access, January and March 2020

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Table 7.1 Percentage of households with internet access, January¹and March²2020
% of households
	Jan-20	Mar-20
State	92	93

Region
Border	86	90
Midlands	91	94
West	90	87
Dublin	95	96
Mid-East	93	95
Mid-West	92	90
South-East	83	88
South-West	91	93
¹Survey weeks 3 to 5
²Survey weeks 11 to 13
Note 1: Data are subject to sampling and other survey errors, which are relatively greater in respect of smaller values.
Note 2: Households represent all private households with at least one occupant aged 16-74.

Table 7.2 Households with internet access classified by type of internet access, January¹ and March² 2020
% of households
	Fixed broadband³		Mobile broadband⁴
	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20
State	83	88	42	43

Region
Border	67	67	54	57
Midlands	77	83	37	37
West	73	84	33	33
Dublin	92	95	41	36
Mid-East	79	94	37	35
Mid-West	83	84	45	45
South-East	75	89	36	30
South-West	82	83	49	40
¹Survey weeks 3 to 5.
²Survey weeks 11 to 13.
³Examples include e.g. DSL, ADSL, VDSL, cable, optical fibre, satellite, public Wi-Fi connections.
⁴Connection via mobile phone network with minimum 3G e.g. UMTS, using SIM or USB key, mobile phone or smartphone as modem.
Note 1: Respondents may have selected more than one option.
Note 2: Data are subject to sampling and other survey errors, which are relatively greater in respect of smaller values.
Note 3: Households represent all private households with at least one occupant aged 16-74.
Note 4: More than one type of internet access may be given by households.

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Impact of COVID-19 on ICT Usage by Households

Household Internet Connectivity

Household internet access increases to 93% in March

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