According to data obtained in the fourth quarter of 2001 referring to the Information Society, we can see that the level of penetration of ICT elements–Information and Communication Technology- in the home continues to rise. Therefore, almost half the population aged 15 and over has access to a personal computer, 15% more than a year before. Access to the Internet has grown at an even higher rate: an 86% increase in a year, 223,000 persons with new access to the Internet at home. The process of replacing old equipment shows the difference in the rate of growth of connections to the Internet and the evolution of PCs in households.

At the end of 2001, 75% of the population had a mobile phone in the home, 15% more than the year before, surpassing the most optimistic forecasts. Although the highest growth for this element occurred in 2000, it has continued to grow constantly, but at a slower rate.

With regard to access to the Internet by different social groups, the distance continues to grow between groups made up of persons with higher education studies, students or young persons, with regard to groups made up of persons aged 65 and over, persons without a family nucleus or isolated or with primary studies. Thus, the latest data indicate that the so-called digital gap is growing in the favour of social groups with higher academic studies, as the increase is sharper among these than among the rest of the Internet access groups.

In the last six months of the year 2001, the internet penetration rate for the group with university studies grew from 41% to 50%. However, the group made up of persons with primary level studies hardly varied, rising from 10.4% to 11,3%.

In the fourth quarter of 2001 there were 529,000 Internet users, representing 29% of the population aged 15 and over. Besides the sharp growth in Internet in the household, the increase in the number of Internet users is also due to new users that despite having access, whether in the place of study or work, did not use it and have since started to do so. In the fourth quarter of 2000 only 55% of those with access to the Internet in their place of work used it, this figure a year later rose to 71%. Among students this figure grew from 69% to 81%.

Although the star subjects on the Internet are still travel, libraries and news, interest has grown more over the past year in consumer rights and administrative services for citizens, with 20 percent increase for each. They are followed by job searches, with an 18 percent increase and, in fourth place, banking and finance with a 15 percent rise. In the latter case the number of users expressing interest grew from 137,000 to 285,000.

In a year the number of Internet shoppers multiplied by over 2, reaching the figure of 90,000. One year before the proportion was one in ten.

Travel overtook books in the purchase ranking; in the last quarter of 2001, 37,000 users contracted travel by Internet, 33,000 bought books or magazines, 22,000 music and17,000 software, among the most sought after products.

This increase in shoppers seems to be in line with an improvement in the opinion on security on the Web among those who enquire or purchase. At the end of the year 2000, 75% had little or no confidence in the system, while by the fourth quarter of 2001 this figure fell to 62%.

Yahoo and Terra are the most used portals by Internet users in the A.C. of Euskadi. Five of the six most mentioned WEB sites corresponded to digital newspapers, grouping together 120,000 users, 88% more than six months before. First place corresponds to elcorreodigital.es, followed by diariovasco.com, elmundo.es, elpais.es and marca.es.

The Basque Government institutional page -euskadi.eus-, occupies second place among those mentioned by Internet users. The increase with regard to the collection of data for the 2^nd quarter of 2001 was 56%. Web pages by the Provincial Councils presetned a similar total of mentions by Internet users to the Basque Government page, with a 47% increase.

If the five most quoted finance institutions by Internet users are taken as a reference: cajalaboral.es, bbk.es, kutxa.net, bbvanet.com and cajavital.net, accounted for 50,000 metions by users, 150% more than six months before.

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