Spanish society is the most connected to the Internet in Europe

Telefónica  recently presented the fifteenth edition of the report The Information Society in Spain corresponding to 2014. This report has become a reference for Spanish society because, in addition to showing the current situation and the most representative indicators of the behavior of users in their digital life, it once again sets out the emerging trends that during the coming years they will have a great impact on society. This year's report shows that digitalization in Spain it continues unstoppable. The main findings of the report, which show that the Spanish society is the most connected to Internet of Europe, reveal that 2014 was the year of the consumption of multi-device video and the consolidation of E-commerce, and they advance that in 2015 the sale of w and importance of privacy in communications.

According to the 2014 report, the future trends that were presented in previous reports have been consolidated and intensified, producing very significant advances in the digital life of citizens. Thus, there are already 26,25 million Spaniards who regularly access the Internet, 1,45 million more than in 2013. Of these, 20,6 million connect daily, that is, 78% live connected. And for the first time, 50% of the elderly, between 55 and 64 years old, are intensive users who access the Internet daily, being the age group that grew the most last year (8,6 percentage points).

La Mobile bandwidth continues to be the key technology in the advancement of the Information Society. Internet access is becoming more and more mobile, mobile terminals continue to gain market share with respect to the fixed device and services are increasingly used in mobility. In 2014, 21,44 million Spaniards accessed the internet while on the move, 4 million more than in 2013.

La optical fiber it is the access technology that has grown the most. Between August 2013 and August 2014, the number of FTTH accesses increased by 127% to 1,1 million and already represent more than 10% of the market share.

Instant messaging and social networks

The star service is still the IM. Its use has grown by 206% in the last two years, reaching 78% of the population with a mobile phone. Already practically equal to the mobile call (used by 82%) as a means of communication with family and friends. The instant message, the message to a social network and communication in person are the three preferred channels for communication with people in the environment.

El Use of the social network it has increased three points to 67,1%. The age group in which the percentage of Internet users accessing social networks increased the most is between 45 and 54 years, which has gone from 43,5-5 in 2013 to 52,3% in 2014. Those who most Internet users between the ages of 91,3 and 16 access social networks (24%), although for the first time the percentage has fallen 3,3 points in relation to 2013.

Internet use

A total of 14,9 million people have done some purchase over the Internet in 2014, of which 1,9 million did so for the first time last year. One in three visits to online shops it is produced with mobility devices. The E-commerce it rises 29,2% compared to a year earlier, while Spanish online sales abroad increase 44,6%.

La ubiquity y geolocation of the mobile terminal is producing a convergence with social networks and 74% of online shoppers trust social networks when making purchases.

The greatest growth is occurring in access to the Internet for leisure purposes, especially among those over 45 years of age, although both professional reasons and communication with family and / or friends complete the reasons for digital use. The great growth in leisure is explained by video consumption and by the fact that users use their smartphone and tablet to access content from anywhere. In fact, Spain has positioned itself as the European leader in access to Multiplatform Internet, with 66%, even higher than the United States.

Video consumption is one of the great catalysts for Internet access and the trend in demand for video has been consolidated. multi-device video services according to the greater freedom demanded by the user. Thus, among the youngest (between 14 and 19 years old), the most widely used means to access multimedia content is already free video on demand with a use of over 90 percent, while only 73 percent use the free-to-air television and more than one in four accesses delayed television.

One of the aspects most valued by users is the possibility of choose when to access the content. Thus, the most used modality for deferred access is the Internet download / streaming function, with a share of 73% and 75% respectively. Movies and series are the most common content.

The wide possibilities of leisure consumption at home have been triggered by the renewal of televisions in Spanish homes, where 70,2% already have high-definition devices and 28,7% have Smart TV, which implies the possibility Internet connection. In fact, Spain has become one of the countries with the highest degree of penetration of Smart TV, above Germany (20%), the United Kingdom (17%) and the United States (16%), after increasing by 34% the last year.

In regulated education, Spain has been at the forefront of Europe in the introduction of the ICT in the classroom as shown by the best ratios of the number of primary school students per connected laptop and the number of digital whiteboards per primary school student. Likewise, Spain is the European leader in offering massive and open online courses (MOOC).

The Administrations have also been protagonists of the digitization of citizen's life, with which they have interacted in a faster and more efficient way. Thus, the number of electronic notifications sent to citizens and companies has gone from 10,1 million in 2013 to 50 million in May of last year. In such a way that 76,5% of the procedures carried out by the General State Administration have been electronically, which has calculated savings for citizens and companies in 2012 and 2103 of 31.000 million euros. Administrative procedures are now only one of the reasons for communication between citizens and the Administration where social networks have acquired a great role. In 2014, 49% of citizens between 16 and 74 years old interacted with public authorities through the Internet, anticipating the 50% target set for 2015 in the European Digital Agenda

Devices

The commitment to mobility access has made Spain the European leader in Smartphone penetration. No less than 4 out of 5 mobile phones in Spain are smart. In just two years, they have gone from representing 63 to 81 percent of mobile phones in Spain. This should not overshadow the significant growth of 68% in the sale of tablets in 2014.

Spaniards make extensive use of both tablets and smartphones, as evidenced by the high number of application downloads for both devices. In Spain there are 23 million active app users who make 3,8 million daily app downloads. On average, each Smartphone user has 39 applications installed, compared to 33 of the tablet users.

Future trends that are already present

Encryption, Big Data, the intelligent vehicle and the promotion of new generations of M2M summarize the future trends of digital life that are already present in our society. The concern for privacy has come to occupy a central place in public opinion and the response has been the accelerated introduction of encryption on the main websites that generate Internet traffic. Thus, it is estimated that in October 2014, between 38 and 50 percent of internet traffic was encrypted compared to 10 percent a year earlier, with a growth of 3% per month.

The techniques of Big Data that allow managing a large amount of both structured and unstructured data in real time have become a fundamental pillar of new business models driven by the technological development of a new generation of M2M. This new generation is characterized by the connection of a huge number of devices and a greater autonomy of the connected devices, with the consequent reduction in operating costs. Smart cities and local commerce are two of the areas of activity where new trends are most clearly being appreciated. The deployment of M2M technologies will grow strongly in the coming years, overcoming cost and connectivity barriers.

The car is the preferred space by users for future internet access with 57 percent, ahead of glasses (42%), the watch (39%) and the refrigerator (36%). It is estimated that by 2020 90 percent of the vehicle fleet will have connectivity capabilities aimed at improving the experience of travel, driving and safety and the management of the vehicle itself.