Today, Arcep, the Economic Council (CGE), France’s National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) and, newly this year, media and digital communications regulator, Arcom, are publishing the findings of the Digital Market Barometer, an annual survey conducted by CREDOC[1] on the adoption of digital tools and devices, and how their use has evolved over time.
In 2022, continued increase in the number of devices in the home and in the development of digital applications
Connected objects (home automation, electronics, health, security) and smart speakers continue to be increasingly common in homes: 2022 saw a seven-point increase in ownership for these devices compared to 2020, reaching 40% and 27% respectively.
In 2022, 87% of respondents stated they owned a smartphone (+3 points compared to 2020). Among them, 89% say they use messaging apps on their phones (+10 points compared to 2020), and 78% use them to make phone calls (+11 points). More generally, 92% of respondents use their smartphone to access the web (+5 points compared to 2020).
Online shopping, which experienced an unparalleled surge in 2020 during the Covid crisis, continued to be popular in 2022: eight out of 10 report having bought at least on item online over the course of the year (77%, +1 point compared to 2020).
Consumers are demanding but largely satisfied with the quality of service on their networks
The percentage of people with a fixed internet connection at home has been holding steady at 85% for several years. Among them, 56% now use a fibre or superfast cable access line. Fibre customer numbers rose considerably in 2022 (+17 points compared to 2020) thanks to the rapid pace of network deployments in 2020 and 2021. There has been a sizeable rise in the percentage of households with internet access, regardless of the size of the municipality. Where users live does, however, influence whether they have fibre access: 72% of respondents living in metropolitan Paris have a fibre or cable connection, compared to 34% of respondents in rural areas.
In 2022, 85% of respondents declared themselves satisfied with the fixed network services they use. This percentage rose as high as 92% for those who subscribe to fibre-based services, and is virtually identical regardless of the size of the municipality.
Quality of service on mobile networks is deemed satisfactory for 85% of respondents, regardless of the applications they use. Although there are still geographic disparities in user satisfaction levels, the gaps are narrowing. Sixteen percent of users in rural communities say they are dissatisfied with the quality of mobile calling, compared to 10% at the national level. This percentage is nevertheless close to 10 points lower than the figure in 2019[2].
After smartphones in 2021, the 2022 edition of the Digital Market Barometer looks at televisions’ environmental footprint
Devices (televisions, smartphones, computers, tablets, etc.) single-handedly account for 65% to 90% of the digital environmental footprint, depending on the indicators being considered[3]. After having examined users’ length of smartphone ownership and habits in terms of refurbishment and recycling in 2021, the 2022 edition of the Digital Market Barometer focuses on televisions. In 2022, 95% of respondents reported that they owned at least one television, a percentage that has remained virtually unchanged for 10 years.
TVs are also the digital devices with the largest carbon footprint, chiefly due to the size of their screen. Which is why increasing the life of televisions remains key to curtailing the digital environmental footprint. The findings of the Digital Market Barometer reveal that there is still room for progress in this area. Close to half of all respondents have owned their main television for less than five years, which is a very short life. Only 20% of them have owned their main television for more than 10 years.
In addition, over half of those who took part in the survey say they replaced their old television even though it was still in full or partial working condition. A third of that group bought a new TV to take advantage of a special deal, and a third to upgrade to a higher end set. Among the main televisions purchased less than two years earlier, 30% were replacing an old set that still worked.
There are nevertheless some nuances to this trend of regularly buying a new television in terms of users’ efforts to reuse the old one: most of the replaced TVs are reused, donated or sold for refurbishment.
Internet is the main access channel for television but used by only a minority of radio listeners
Eighty three percent of the people in France who own a television and have a fixed internet connection at home state that they access TV programming through their internet service provider’s (ISP) box on at least one television. The main reasons given for this are reception quality (for 53% of them), diversity of the services on offer (39%) and direct access to VoD subscriptions (38%). On the flipside, 17% of the people in France who own a television and have a fixed internet connection at home do not use an ISP’s TV services. Two thirds (66%) of them say they are satisfied with DTT channels and services. Almost the same percentage (63%) say they are not willing to pay to watch TV.
While three out of four people in France (75%) listen to the radio and audio content such as podcasts and music, streamed live or available on demand, listening on a radio with FM or DAB+ reception remains more common than streaming: 65% of listeners prefer the radio, compared to only 35% for the internet. Listeners’ satisfaction (75%) and habit (70%) are the main reasons giving for continuing to listen to the radio and access audio content via the old wireless network. The reasons given by 51% of streamers for preferring to listen via the internet are the freedom of choice of content and ability to listen at any time.
Half of internet users have read social media sites and video-sharing platforms’ Terms of Use
Fifty two percent of internet users have read a social media site or video-sharing platform’s terms of service. Among those who have read them at least once, 77% say the information is easy to access. However, only 53% of internet users who have read the terms of service say they are easy to understand. Forty two percent of internet users have already reported an inappropriate account or content by using the mechanism provided by social media sites and video-sharing platforms. The vast majority of the authors of these reports say the mechanisms are easy to access (87%), easy to use (85%) and easy to understand (80%).
Some display features designed to improve digital inclusion are widely used
The accessibility of digital devices is a major contributor to digital inclusion. Some of the features provided by these devices help improve access to online content. Among the different features available, the ability to adjust screen brightness (83%) and display zoom (80%) are the two most widely used amongst digital device owners, while around six out of 10 device owners in France have adjusted text size, increased display contrast and used voice commands. Audio description and colour inversion are little used, with only around a third of people in France taking advantage of them. Most of those who do use them are under 40, with 18 to 24-year-olds being the biggest users of voice commands, colour inversion and audio description.
Find out more about the Arcep-Arcom joint Digital Division
Associated documents:
• Infographics: snapshot of the main findings of the 2022 edition(in French)
• Presentation given at the press conference
• The complete survey (in French)
• Open data sets: complete Digital Market Barometer datasets since 2007 available at: data.gouv.fr
[1] Methodology: Conducted by the CREDOC research centre devoted to the study and observation of living conditions, the survey polled a representative sample of 4,184 people, ages 12 and up, who were interviewed by phone and online. The 2022 results are compared to the 2020 findings, the latest figures available for comparison.
[2] The question on satisfaction was posed for the last time in 2019.
[3] Evaluation of the digital environmental footprint in France and forward-looking analysis – Summary report produced by ADEME and Arcep (19 January 2022)