France deregulated its telecommunications market in 2004, leading to competition among Internet access providers. Broadband access has grown quickly in this market.
More than half of all homes (52.4%) in France had a broadband connection in 2007. By 2012, this figure will grow to more than seven out of 10 French households.
Few people in France use a dial-up connection. In March 2008, 93.5% of at-home users in France enjoyed a broadband connection to the Internet, down slightly from the 94.2% who did so in the previous year.
If both Internet access as a whole and broadband access in particular are still growing, why did broadband dip slightly as a percentage of total Internet penetration?
Karin von Abrams, senior analyst at eMarketer, said that late Internet adopters may only have a dial-up connection because it is the easiest conversion to make from a standard phone connection. She also said that price matters for many late adopters.
"Older users are finally being persuaded to connect but don't expect to be using the Internet very much, and so are not inclined to fork out for broadband unless they really need it," Ms. von Abrams said. "Very poor households also know it is important to have access but find it hard to pay for any extras like broadband."
