Asked to name their single top use for the Internet outside of work, 13% of Western European respondents to a GFK poll cited e-commerce, such as shopping on Amazon.com or eBay, compared with 12% of Americans. In the U.K., 26% of respondents named this as their top use for the Web.

According to a new poll conducted by GFK, in Italy, only 39% of respondents said they have access to the Internet for private purposes. That puts Italy in the same league as Romania (36%) and Bulgaria (37%), two formerly communist countries that rank as the EU’s poorest member states.

Asked whether all Internet content should be free, 42% of European respondents to a GFK poll said “yes,” compared with 21% in the U.S. Also, more Americans (57%) than Europeans (40%) said Internet content should be free with the understanding that advertisements and other marketing tools might be included.

According to a new poll conducted by GFK, there are two countries in Europe that stand out for having particularly high Web access: the Netherlands (91%) and Sweden (86%).

According to a new poll conducted by GFK, across Western Europe, 61% of people say they have access to the Web, either from home, work, an Internet cafe or a mobile device. In the U.S., 75% of respondents said they had similar access. Europe as a whole, including five Central and Eastern European states, lags even farther behind, with only 59% of those surveyed saying they have personal access to the Internet.

Global monthly data traffic will grow from 44,487 terabytes per month in 2009, to 1.8 exabytes per month in 2017.

North America will account for only 14% of video consumption, where Asia Pacific will consume 53%.  Europe will account for 26%.

According to researcher Paul Budde, Latin and South America’s broadband compound annual growth rate [was] 48 percent between 2003 and 2008, one of the highest in the world.

Wireless carriers invested $100 billion in just the past three years, and the U.S. vaulted past Europe in fast 3G mobile networks. Americans enjoy mobile voice prices 60% cheaper than foreign peers.

People in Japan can upload a high definition video in 12 minutes, compared to a grueling 2.5 hours at the U.S. average upload speed.  Yet, people in Japan pay about the same as we do in the U.S. for their internet connection.