Internet use in provinces catching up with Manila

Provincial cities are catching up with Metro Manila in terms of internet use, according to a recent media study from The Nielsen Company. Based on a rolling sample over the past year of males and females aged 10 and above across all socioeconomic classes, Metro Manila still showed the highest percentage of Internet users: as many as 40 percent of those surveyed went online in the past month. However, close behind the capital city are Tuguegarao (37 percent), Olongapo (35 percent), Angeles (34 percent), and Dumaguete (33 percent) — each hosting a high concentration of tertiary schools and other educational institutions.

Highly urbanized cities other than Metro Manila ("Tier 2") are quickly catching up in terms of internet usage. Source: The Nielsen Company

"Several factors are contributing to the rise of Internet usage across the country, particularly in urban centers outside Metro Manila," said Nielsen Media (Philippines) executive director Jay Bautista in an email interview with GMANews.TV. He enumerated the following growth drivers:

• Proliferation of Internet café’s which allow even low-income consumers to go online
• Increase in the number of surplus PC shops (second-hand desktops and laptops from other countries)
• Decrease in access rates for DSL, availability of prepaid internet plug-ins
• Increase in the number of WiFi zones in commercial establishments
• Popularity of netbooks
• Popularity of BYO (build your own) PC’s
• Popularity of social networking sites (Facebook)
• Going online is proving to be a cheaper way to communicate with OFW’s or relatives who have migrated to other countries (Skype, etc.)

These factors play a key role in another important finding of the Nielsen study: the shift from shared Internet access to private access. While Internet cafés continue to be the place of choice for going online, the number of people who patronize these establishments over the past three months dropped from 71 percent to 69 percent year-on-year. Access from school and work terminals has also declined, down to four and five percent, respectively. In contrast, according to the Nielsen study, home usage has increased from 27 percent to 31 percent. And, most surprisingly, access via mobile devices (such as cellphones, personal digital assistants, and netbooks) went from zero just a year ago up to 5 percent in 2010.

More people are going online using their mobile phones, netbooks, and other portable devices. Source: The Nielsen Company

The sharp rise in mobile Internet usage has been attributed to more affordable access rates and attractive tariffs from mobile telecommunications companies Bautista said that Nielsen plans to look more closely into the phenomenon in an upcoming study. "Next year we are planning to launch an internet café landscape study which will help us understand the nuances of urban cities," he said. - HS, GMANews.TV