Study: U.S. Web users tops in online use

U.S. Internet users spend the most time online among people in developed countries, while Spaniards spend the least, a study by British regulators found.

U.S. Web users spend an average 15 hours a week online, whereas those in Spain spend about 7 1/2 hours a week on the Internet, said the study by Britain’s Office of Communications.

British Internet use has risen the fastest, at an average rate of 30 percent a year, among the 12 developed and four emerging countries studied.

All countries studied in 2007 had nearly one broadband connection for every four people, or 25 percent, while the Netherlands had the highest connection rate, at 35 percent.

U.S. Web users downloaded the most streaming video, at 26 percent, followed by British consumers, at 8 percent.

Broadcast television viewing appears more resilient to Web access in the United States than anywhere else, the study found. The net percentage of U.S. Web users cutting back on traditional TV was 7 percent, whereas it was between 15 percent and 21 percent in the other countries surveyed.

The countries surveyed included the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, along with Poland, Sweden and Ireland. Separately, the report looked at the communications markets in the emerging countries Brazil, Russia, India and China.