`Just the facts, please`

That`s what online consumers are saying, according to the five country 2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers Consumer Technology Survey just released. The results show that about 9 out of 10 home Internet users overall are researching information or sending or receiving email. A smaller number of consumers are looking to the Web for their entertainment needs.

When asked their reasons for accessing the Internet from home, 51% of Americans mentioned entertainment, such as playing games or streaming music, compared to 42% in Australia, 45% in the UK, 46% in France and 40% in Germany. However, the number of entertainment mentions dropped drastically when consumers were asked their primary reasons for going online: 6% in the US, 2% in Australia and 4% in Europe.

"In South Africa, the majority of internet users make use of the web for e-mail and to search for information. People under 25 years of age, which account for around 60% of internet users in South Africa, tend to use the web predominantly for information regarding careers, backpacking for international travel, chat rooms and lifestyle issues such as music and fashion," said Zunaid Juma, Senior Consultant in Strategic Change at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"In South Africa where the web is also predominantly accessed through analogue telephone lines, speed is increasingly becoming an issue for internet users. Going forward, this could be resolved through service offerings like ADSL planned by Telkom in the not too distant future, as well as development in next generation mobile services.

"Technology uptake in South Africa has in the main, been restricted to people in the higher income groups".

Among the five countries surveyed by PwC, analog telephone lines are still the predominant mode of Internet access from the home, with the exception of Germany: 85% in the US, 97% in Australia, 87% in the UK, 84% in France and 47% in Germany. Germans exhibit a need for speed, with 48% accessing the Net with a broadband connection, particularly ISDN at 38%.

With the notable exception of Germany, very few Internet users are taking advantage of the faster broadband access methods available to them. Half of the Germans who are aware that ISDN lines are available are using these as their primary source for accessing the Net, and 19% who are aware of cable modems are using them as their primary access method.

Digital TV continues to be a mystery, yet it is something more people want. Familiarity with Digital TV/Service has not changed among consumers in the US (76%) or the UK (93%). However, the French are more aware (63%, up from 45%) and the Germans are less aware of DTV (74%, down from 79%), compared to 1999. Australian awareness stands at 80%.

As in 1999, very few consumers (2-6% across all countries) responded that they knew a lot about the technology. The survey shows that men, those earning US$50,000 or more per year, or those aged under 55, are more knowledgeable about DTV than their counterparts.