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Internet usage has become more intense in the last 2 years. Internet users are online more often and for longer periods, averaging 18 hours per week. This involves multiple internet sessions; people are online in the morning, have several short sessions during the day to check email, news, or the weather, and often have a longer internet session in the evening. The internet is a significant source of information, but traditional media such as radio and television continue to play an important role in media consumption.
Viewing news, checking email, and the weather are also frequently done online via mobile phones. 'Heavy users' of mobile internet are often the same as 'heavy users' of fixed internet. Mobile internet is seen as a pleasant extension of the fixed internet connection.
The broadband+ user, with a fixed connection with a download speed of at least 50 Mbit/s or someone who has consciously chosen a high upload speed or symmetrical connection, does not differ much from the regular internet user. The broadband+ user does not have longer or shorter internet sessions but does make more use of various internet applications such as checking traffic sites, playing online games, and making payments online. Although the broadband+ user uses certain internet applications more, these are not always applications that require high bandwidth (except for downloading movies and playing online games).
All this is revealed in the fifth edition of Broadband and the User, which was released this year. Broadband and the User examines changes in internet usage from a user perspective. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), the Stimuleringsfonds voor de Pers (SVDP), and cable and media company UPC Nederland, Dialogic outlined what the 'average' Dutch broadband user was doing online in 2010 and how this behaviour has changed over the past ten years. The report is available on the Dialogic website and on the website of Broadband and the User.