S. Korea tops global Net usage study

South Korea has the highest take-up of broadband in the world

In this story: Hyper-usage, hyper-speed Have broadband, will stream RELATED STORIES

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

SEOUL, Korea (CNN) -- South Koreans are the world's most ravenous Net surfers, according to recent surveys.

Surfers from South Korea log an average of 2,164 page views in March, quite in contrast to the 678 monthly page views posted by American Internet users.

Multiple reports have confirmed that South Koreans are the most active and sophisticated Internet users in the world -- a merit earned partly by abundant and readily available broadband access.

Hyper-usage, hyper-speed

The Net usage survey by ACNielsen's Internet measurement division, eRatings, studied the online behavior of home Internet users around the world.

The report revealed that Koreans access the most number of Web pages per month, while spending the least amount of time on each page -- merely 28 seconds before clicking on.

Analysts say the quick viewing time can be attributed to Korea's hyper-speed broadband networks.

Broadband connections grant users faster access to Internet services at a flat monthly fee.

A recent OECD report said South Korea has the highest take-up of broadband in the world.

Another survey by Internet measurement firm NetValue also confirms South Korea's network speed superiority.

Close to 60 percent of all Korean households access the Internet through broadband connections, NetValue reported.

Have broadband, will stream

Armed with ready access to the bandwidth needed to support online video and audio content, 73.9 percent of Korea's Web surfers accessed streaming video and audio content in February.

In contrast, only 29.5 percent of the surfing population in the U.S. access streaming media content.

Broadband is a driving force behind Korea's ravenous Net appetite, but it's not the only one.

NetValue's Hong Kong marketing vice president Clayton Fitts told CNN that there are over 800 Web-casting companies in Korea alone.

"If we compare streaming media access from dial-up and broadband connections in Korea, we still see high usage of streaming anyway," said Fitts.

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