The latest survey from the company indicates that the number of consumers older than 55 that are online has increased by 50 percent in two and a half years, up from almost 10 million in 2000 to more than 15 million at the end of 2002.

According to the study, the increase comes mainly from younger seniors, aged between 55 and 64.

Almost 50 percent of seniors in Sweden are now online, compared to just under 40 percent in the Netherlands and 29 percent in the UK. Only French and Spanish seniors are still holding back from using the Net.

The study reveals that most senior consumers are reasonably passive online, preferring to stick to basic activities like using email and researching products.

The report indicates that while fifty percent of seniors have looked for products online, just four ercent have purchased via the Web.

In addition, while one in six seniors check stock quotes online, only seven percent bank online regularly.

The company’s latest study reveals that one in five Europeans currently bank online. This is equivalent to 37 percent of all Internet users on the continent.

Forrester forecast that the number of Europeans carrying out financial transactions via the Net will rise to 130 million by 2007.

During 2002, Southern Europe saw the highest increase in Net banking with penetration reaching 10 percent. In Italy alone, online banking jumped by 88 percent.

Penetration also increased in the Netherlands to more than 60 percent, however, growth in the UK and Germany started to flatten out in 2002, pulling the average European growth rate down from 60 percent in 2001 to 40 percent in 2002.

Forrester estimates that online banking penetration in Nordic countries and the Netherlands will climb to 60 percent of Net users this year, Italy and Greece, which had fewer than 5 percent of adults banking online a year ago, will struggle to reach a third of Net users banking online in 2003

Mar 20th 2003: Datamonitor predicts that over 41 million European households will be accessing the Internet via high-speed broadband connections by 2006.

This compares to just over 10 million broadband households in 2002.

However, Datamonitor suggests that monthly subscription rates for high-speed Internet services will need to fall to at least USD25 before mass-market uptake becomes a reality.

According to the research company, Germany will continue to lead Europe in broadband adoption, while the UK will overtake France to become the second largest broadband connected country by 2006.

DSL is expected to become the most widely used broadband access technology in almost all markets, except in the Netherlands where cable modem-based services will dominate.

However, while the number of broadband users is expected to rise over the next few years, Datamonitor predicts that revenues from broadband connectivity will begin to stagnate from 2004 onwards because of reduced monthly subscription rates and a slowdown in consumer uptake.

The research company says that despite a lack of consumer willingness to pay for online content, spending on broadband content will reach USD3.4 billion by the end of 2006, an almost ten-fold increase compared to total expenditure in 2003.

During 2006, the average Western European broadband user is expected to spend USD76 per year on content.