Surfers shun Wap phones

Internet cafes: less popular than libraries among surfers

Internet surfers are shunning Wap phones in favour of home computers, reveals a government report which shows that almost half of all Britons have logged on to the net.

More than half of male Britons have accessed the internet while 39% of women have, National Statistics said in a survey published on Tuesday.

But only 1% of surfers are using mobile phones or digital television to log on, says the survey, the second in a quarterly series on internet access.

More than two thirds of net users are accessing the web via home computers, and almost one third are logging on at a workplace PC, even for personal use.

PC power

"Although there is a range of technology available, virtually all those who used the internet for personal use had done so mostly or exclusively using a computer," the report says.

Where we log on

Own home: 70%

Workplace: 32%

School or college: 26%

Library: 7%

Internet cafe: 6%

More than two thirds of those who log on are surfing for information on goods and services while 28% have shopped online.

But one third are using the net only for checking e-mails, and only one-in-seven for surfing government or official sites, the survey says.

The internet is particularly well accepted by young people, who are more than six times as likely as pensioners to surf. Less than 10% of over 65-year-olds are logging on.

Middle age spread

But the net has been accepted by middle aged Britons, with almost half 45-to-54 year olds signing up as internet users.

Among 25-to-44 year olds, 60% surf the net, with 69% of 16-to-24 year olds logging on.

Professionals, of which two thirds have surfed, are three times as likely as unskilled worker to use the net, the report says.

Of those who have never logged on, half cited a lack of interest, while one quarter blamed the lack of a computer for their failure to surf.

One-in-seven of non-users said they lacked the confidence to surf, with 2% expressing net enmity.