The day-to-day life in a Swedish household is about to change - Over 17,000 replies to Telia's Trend Survey 2006

The use of Internet continues to increase, and now there is a more extensive range of Web services available for mobile phones as well — and they are popular. Those who thought that people over 50 are hopeless when it comes to using modern communications need to think again — there is now evidence to the contrary. This is indicated by Telia’s Trend Survey 2006, which among other things involves an annual survey of over 17,000 private and corporate customers in Sweden.

In order to find out how things are at the communications front in Swedish households and how far have matters developed in the corporate sector, Telia has carried out an extensive survey with over 17,000 responses. The idea was not to study long-term trends but instead get an insight into today’s realities and how Swedish people use modern communications now and in the near future. – We at Telia have a clear vision about making our services as simple and user-friendly as possible. In order to succeed in this, we must have an on-going dialogue with our customers. The information that we obtain through the trend survey will give us a very good basis for further developing our services and offers, says Marie Ehrling, Managing Director of TeliaSonera Sweden. Internet goes mobile in 2006 One of the most obvious trends in modern communications during 2006 is the ever-increasing use of the Internet. For example, 83 per cent of those responding to the survey said that they will make more banking transactions in the net during 2006 than in the previous year. In addition to that, the Web services are now moving to mobile phones — and are very popular. 27 per cent of those responding say that they will be sending more e-mail than before using their mobile phone, and 23 per cent intends to read news. Search engines, timetables and weather forecasts are also popular. Downloading music is becoming more commonplace which means that the mobile phone has now started to challenge the position of dedicated MP3 players. Over 50s increase usage The myth about Web commerce and mobile services being something that only young people utilise was not supported by the survey. Even though the young are the first to test new services, many over 50s are well ahead in the use of modern communications. E-mail in mobile phone, TV though broadband, IP telephony and reading news are examples of services that people over 50 will start using more in 2006. In addition, the over 50s are very interested in ”triple play” – that is, the possibility to obtain TV broadcasts as well as broadband and telephone connections from one supplier. About Telia’s Trend Survey 2006 In this survey, Telia has asked over 17,000 persons, both private and business users, about modern communications. The survey covered the whole country. All those responding are Telia’s customers. The field phase took place from 30 January to 3 February 2006.