Computers and Internet access are becoming commonplace in Singapore homes, thanks to free surfing plans and the government's promotional efforts.
According to the Survey on Infocomm Usage in Households 2000 conducted by the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), six out of 10 Singaporean homes owned at least one computer last year. This is compared with about four out of 10 households in 1996.
As such, the island state was "relatively ahead" of other high PC-penetrated countries, including Australia (56 percent), the US (51 percent), Hong Kong (50 percent) and Ireland (32 percent), the IDA claimed in a statement today.
Last year's survey, the fifth since 1990, involved face-to-face interviews with 1,500 homeowners picked from the Household Sampling Frame maintained by the Department of Statistics of Singapore.
It was also discovered that about half of the local homes had Internet access last year, showing a tremendous growth from about one out of 10 households in 1996.
As with PC ownership, Singapore was tops in home Internet penetration rate (about 50 percent), compared with mature markets such as the US (42 percent), Australia (37 percent), Hong Kong (36 percent) and Ireland (20 percent).
The IDA also noted that there are about 1.3 million Internet users in Singapore, which has a population of 4 million.
Home PC users were mostly male (53 percent), below 30 years old (61 percent) and had tertiary education (40 percent), according to the survey. Email and chat were the "killer applications" last year, with 92 percent of the survey respondents using them.
Respondents also cited the lack of computer literacy skills and budget as reasons for not owning a computer or subscribing to the Internet.
However, measures such as the National IT Literacy Programme (NITLP) and the Infocomm Competency Programme are already in place to boost IT literacy. The IDA also provides financial assistance to needy families through the PC Reuse Scheme, a program in partnership with community groups and the private sector.
Besides owning PCs, other avenues to get online in the island state include some 7,000 public Internet access points in community libraries, cyber cafes and schools.
