Web growth grinding to a halt

NEWS Growth of internet use within the European Union is in danger of grinding to a halt, the European Commission warned yesterday. Only two years after Brussels began a marketing drive to turn Europe into an "information society", a progress review has shown only a very small increase in the number of new subscribers. Internet penetration in EU households rose spectacularly from 18 per cent in March 2000 to 36 per cent in June 2001, but is now just two per cent above that figure at 38 per cent. The Commission said the solution to slowing growth in the market is an increase in the availability of broadband, an area which it intends to focus on from now on.