A survey indicates Hong Kong residents are floundering in the wake of their Web-surfing counterparts in other parts of Asia. The study last month of five regions by the French firm NetValue showed only the mainland had a lower Internet usage rate than Hong Kong. Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea all scored higher. Only 29 per cent of users in the SAR did something online in August, compared with 46 per cent in net-savvy Singapore, 42 per cent in South Korea and 36 per cent in Taiwan. The mainland recorded a 23 per cent usage rate, but the data includes only Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. When factored over the entire mainland population, the usage rate is less than 1 per cent. The low numbers should be a wake-up call for people who want to make Hong Kong the digital hub of Asia, says NetValue vice-president Clayton Fitts. 'I think the question that needs to be asked is why countries such as Korea are doing so well compared to what is happening in Hong Kong,' he said. Mr Fitts said other governments had been aggressively pushing Internet policies, and the results are starting to show in the form of increased use. NetValue found that one in five people who had Internet access in Hong Kong did not bother to use it last month. Steve Yap, communications director of competing survey firm iamasia, said his company's research, collected several months ago, showed a 37 per cent usage rate in Hong Kong, significantly higher than NetValue's finding. Meanwhile, the NetValue survey, which polled 5,000 people in each location, showed that almost everyone using the Internet in Hong Kong could do so from home. Just under half also had access at their place of work. Only 6 per cent used a public connection - such as a cyber cafe. By comparison, Koreans were much more likely to use the Internet somewhere other than home or work, with 43 per cent visiting a cyber cafe last month. People on the mainland were the least likely to have access to the Net from home, with only 62 per cent of Web surfers being able to log on outside of their workplace. Singapore emerged from the survey as one of the most connected places on the planet. NetValue, which also operates in the United States and Europe, says 52 per cent of Singapore's households are online, compared with 50 per cent in the US, 36 per cent in Hong Kong and only 17 per cent in France. The survey profiles the typical Internet user in the five regions as a male student under 35 years old who has been connected to the Internet for more than two years. Housewives over 35 years old were least likely to use the Internet. The results are from NetValue's establishment survey for Asia and represent the latest entry in the competitive Web-measurement market. Locally based iamasia was first out with data last month, and American giant ACNielsen eRatings is expected to release its first numbers next month. Full data from NetValue's panel survey will also be released next month. Unlike traditional measurements of page hits, the survey-panel system used by the three companies is considered a more accurate reflection of users' online activity since it tracks it automatically rather than asking people to record how they use the Net. The panel results are factored over the whole population in a similar way to public opinion poll sampling. By the Numbers, page 5 Graphic: user05gwz