AMPS 2003A - Internet usage

The Internet is still not showing signs of increasing its presence in South Africa. Internet usage has remained stable on the previous AMPS survey, with fourweek usage stable at 5% (1.496-million users). There are however, significantly more users in Gauteng and in LSM 10.

Seven day usage is static, with 1.146-million people logging on, a penetration of 3.8%. Yesterday usage remains steady at 2.3% (684 000 users), but with significantly more users in metro areas, and in LSM 10.

Usage remains predominantly at home (2.5%, 744 000 users), with at work usage lagging behind at 1.9% (564 000). A further 371 000 people claimed to use the Internet "elsewhere", a penetration of 1.2%. Note that the total across the three access points adds up to more than the total number of people who accessed the Internet in the past 4-weeks, due to duplication. The same person can access the Net at different places.

Why people log on

Users continue to use the Internet as they have done in past surveys. Usage for email and banking are slightly up, but not significantly. The top reasons for logging on are:
1. Email (4%)
2. Banking (1.5%)
3. Obtain news (1.5%)
4. Read a magazine/newspaper (0.8%)
5. Chat on-line (0.7%)

Again, note that the same person can access the Net for more than one purpose.

Source: For the complete AMPS 2003A data, visit the SAARF website at www.saarf.co.za.