Stockholmers surf the fastest in Sweden

– fast broadband is popular nationwide

Telia’s statistics on the broadband subscriptions of customers show that connection speeds vary all over Sweden. The largest percentage of customers with fast broadband connections lives in Stockholm County, where 35 percent use the faster alternatives*. In addition, Telia’s annual Christmas survey indicates that people in Sweden also connect to the Internet during the Christmas holidays. One out of four Swedes in the survey stated that they could consider being reachable if their work needed to contact them, and almost four out of five said that they could consider maintaining contact with their family and friends over a web camera.

Technical possibilities to get fast broadband are often greater in large towns and cities. Despite this, Telia customers residing in counties with a major metropolitan city do not consistently account for the highest percentage of customers with fast broadband. It is true that the largest number of customers surfing at speeds up to 24 Mbit/s and 8 Mbit/s – 35 percent – live in the capital of Stockholm. However, the list continues with Uppsala County (31 percent) and Västmanland County (30 percent), followed by Skåne County and Dalarna County (29 percent each).

How Swedes want to use their broadband during Christmas
More than one out of four people in Sweden are positive towards being reachable by a work computer or mobile phone during the Christmas holidays should their employer need to get in touch with them. In the opinion of this group of respondents, it feels reassuring that they can be contacted if some emergency should develop, and that it is nice to avoid having to choose between family life and work.

Seventy-eight percent said they could use a web camera on Christmas Eve to get into closer contact with family and friends who do not have the possibility to meet in real life. Among the communication tools available in the home, web cameras came in second place after the fixed line phone for getting in touch with friends and family (24 percent and 45 percent, respectively).

“Broadband is playing a bigger and bigger role in many households. As more and more people discover the benefits and fun of having constant access to the Internet, we are seeing how demand for faster broadband connections is increasing all over Sweden. We believe that many people will take the opportunity to upgrade their broadband subscription to a faster connection alternative before Christmas,” says Indra Åsander, head of the consumer market at TeliaSonera Sweden.

Papa knows best, according to Papa, and Mama says the kids know best
When it comes to knowing about broadband, family members tend to have different opinions about the person who knows the most about the Internet and broadband. Sixty-one percent of the male respondents in the survey said that their father knew the most – an opinion shared by only 22 percent of the female respondents. The women instead felt that their children knew more than their fathers (26 percent and 23 percent, respectively).

About Telia’s 2006 Christmas Survey
Telia asked 10,126 people in Sweden about their communication habits during the Christmas holidays. All of Sweden is represented in the survey. The respondents are Telia customers. The survey was conducted November 9-15, 2006.

* Up to 24 Mbit/s and 8 Mbit/s