UK's Unconnected Happy That Way

Fifteen million adults in the UK will not be getting on the Internet, according to a survey by MORI for Which? Online, because they feel it is irrelevant to their lives. Cost also serves as a significant barrier.

The survey also found more than 10 percent of those not connected to the Internet in the UK intend to get connected in the next year. People with children are more likely to connect, with 25 percent intending to do so within the year.

“These ‘never users’ are telling us that they think the Internet is irrelevant to them,” said Paul Kitchen, head of Which? Online. “Internet service and content providers need to establish a clear message for non-users to show how they can benefit from online activity. New methods of access like interactive TV and mobile phones, which offer consumers a mode of accessing the Internet without the expense of a PC, may change minds. But if they don’t, the digital divide may become a real problem.”

One in 14 Internet users in the UK have used a mobile phone or digital TV for Internet access, despite their recent launch in consumer markets, while one in eight users have logged on via a cyber café. Nearly 30 percent of those surveyed look forward to accessing the Internet through digital TV.

The introduction of WAP mobile phones will make access to the Internet more available to everyone, with half of Internet users surveyed wanting the ability to email via their mobile phone.

The study also found an increase in online shopping, with almost 6 million online shoppers now in the UK. Nearly 25 percent of Web surfers now shop online compared to 10 percent in 1999, and only 2 percent in 1998. Internet users are making bigger and more significant purchases online with books being the most popular purchase. Internet shopping is popular with the UK’s more experienced users (those online for 3 years or more), with 70 percent of them buying online.

Other findings from the survey:

• Only 11 percent of Internet users stated they get better customer service online
• Half the British public is concerned about using a credit card online (51 percent), but the majority of Internet shoppers (70 percent) have no qualms about forwarding their personal details into cyberspace
• One in 20 Internet users in the UK have purchased groceries online

There are nearly 13 million people using the Internet in the UK, and men still dominate. One-third of all men have gone online, while only 20 percent of women have accessed the Internet. Ten percent of people over age 55 have gone online. The rate of new Internet users in the UK has declined, but it is increasing more quickly among less-affluent users and remains higher among those with children. One-third of the UK users are online for more than five hours a week, and 69 percent of users now regularly use email.

Of the non-Internet users in the UK, 10 percent say they will get connected within the year, but 52 percent say they will never get connected. Younger non-users say cost is the biggest prohibition to getting Internet access, but 25 percent of the UK’s non-Internet users don’t know what the Internet is used for.