Internet Infrastructure And Its Usage In Poland And Other European Union Member States

Abstract

One in four of all households in Poland does not have access to the Internet, while in the EU15, the same refers to only one in every six households. In this paper we analyze the Internet infrastructure from both supply (broadband coverage-speed) and demand (usage of Internet by individuals-SMEs) side, as well as the affordability aspect. In particular, we search for biggest gaps of Poland’s Internet infrastructure in comparison to other European Union Member States (EU15 and NMS12). Our empirical analysis is based on European Commission’s and ITU’s databases. Moreover, we provide some recommendations for the government and enterprises exposing the biggest gaps of Poland and emphasizing the beneficial impact of the Next Generation Access networks.