YNOT EUROPE – Nearly half of all European Union households — 43 percent — don’t have internet access, according to a new European Commission study. Most of those surveyed cited the cost of service as the primary uptake inhibitor.

Even more appalling, according to the commission: Almost one-quarter — 23 percent — are not inclined to hook up even if prices fall.

“Almost one in five households surveyed mentioned the high costs associated with the internet being the reason for having no internet connection at home,” the study report notes. “Enhancing competition to get the prices down, an important objective of the Digital Agenda, would therefore be likely to encourage more people to get an internet connection.”

However, the commission is in a quandary about what to do with those who are uninterested in the online experience, and just as flummoxed about what to do with quality-of-service complaints mentioned by a significant percentage of the connected.

According to the study, 30 percent of consumers are dissatisfied with the unreliable speed of their connection, 36 percent take issue with frequent outages and 24 percent say the features they expected are not what they received. More than 20 percent indicated they suspect their internet service provider blocks some applications or content.

The study’s results are not unlike those seen in previous generations, when cellular telephone service was new. Although many Europeans were slow to adopt the technology, 87 percent now have mobiles, up four percent over 2007’s levels. Sixty-two percent have both fixed-line and mobile phone service. Altogether, 98 percent of EU households have either fixed or mobile telephone service — the same percentage who enjoy broadcast television.