TALLINN - Low prices and a dynamic market have propelled Estonia to the top of the European Union in terms of Internet usage, a recent survey by Finland's Communication Ministry revealed.
Last year the Baltic country underwent a surge in the number of leased-line connections, which still cost about 50 percent the EU average, the daily Postimees wrote. Elion, the country's largest telephone company, saw its number of leased-line connections grow in 2004 by more than half, from 50,800 to 77,000.
"The Internet connection has now reached every fourth home," company spokesman Ain Parmas said, adding that, according to his estimates, Elion's leased-line connections account for approximately 60 percent of all Internet service connections in Estonia.
The number of permanent connections with Starman, a new provider, amounted to 17,000 a year ago, but had grown to 26,000 by the start of 2005.
Growth in the number of Internet leased-line connections may be one of the reasons why the use of online banking services has surged, said Hansa-pank's Kristiina Tamberg, a PR official.
Estonia is also a European leader in terms of the country's number of high-speed permanent Internet connections. Only Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and France outstrip the country.
The government is doing its part to ensure that the Internet boom continues. Edvard Saarma, chief of the communications department at the Economy Ministry, said last month that the government wanted to use the 450 MHz band previously owned by NMT to create a new wireless network covering the entire country.
"NMT was based on analogue technology, which cannot be used for the Internet, but now we have digital technology," he said. "In principle, this will be like a large WiFi network that will cover all of Estonia."
