Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

Table 1-9: Connectivity (Indicator 1) in the digital economy and society index
 
Austria
EU average
DESI 2017*
DESI 2018
DESI 2019
DESI 2019
Value
Value
Value
Ranking
Value
Fixed broadband coverage
% of all households
98% 
2016
98% 
2017
98% 
2018
11
97% 
2018
Fixed broadband usage
% of all households
68% 
2016
71% 
2017
69% 
2018
21
77% 
2018
4G network coverage
% of all households (average of all providers)
89% 
2016
97% 
2017
98% 
2018
8
94% 
2018
Mobile broadband usage
Contracts per 100 inhabitants
77 
2016
83 
2017
87 
2018
19
96 
2018
5G readiness
Radio frequencies allocated as a % of total harmonised 5G 
frequencies
N/A
N/A
33% 
2018
7
14% 
2018
Fixed broadband coverage (NGA)
% of all households
87% 
2016
90% 
2017
91% 
2018
9
83% 
2018
Usage of fast broadband connections
% of all households
16% 
2016
19% 
2017
23% 
2018
24
41% 
2018
Ultra-fast broadband coverage
% of all households
56%
2017
58% 
2018
20
60% 
2018
Usage of ultra-fast broadband connections
% of all households
3% 
2016
5% 
2017
7% 
2018
25
20% 
2017
Broadband price index
Value (0 to 100)
91 
2016
91 
2017
93 
2018
4
87 
2017
* Not all indicators in the DESI reports are updated annually; some therefore refer to the previous year. For each value in the table, the year to which the 
data relate is given below. 
Source: European Commission (2019f). Graphic: iit.

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1. Current Trends
41
Austria is within the mid-range of European 
countries in terms of its integration of digital tech-
nology (see Table 1-11). Looking at the individual 
sub-indicators for this index dimension reveals 
three things in particular: firstly, only a relatively 
small percentage of firms in Austria make use of big 
data and cloud services. In 2018, only 6% of all Aus-
trian companies used any big data (EU average: 
12%). Cloud services (including hosting corporate 
databases, finance or accounting software, CRM 
software, processing capacity for running own soft-
ware as a cloud service) were used by 11% of all 
Austrian companies in 2018 (EU: 18%). Secondly, 
Austrian companies exchange information electron-
ically comparatively frequently (40% of all Austrian 
companies as against an EU average of 34%). Third-
ly, e-Commerce and e-Commerce turnover are be-
low the EU average, while the percentage of SMEs 
with online shops even appears to be falling. Inter-
estingly, however, cross-border e-commerce in 
Austria is above the EU average, with the country 
possibly benefiting from its relatively small size and 
Table 1-10: Human capital (Indicator 2) in the digital economy and society index
 
 
 
Austria
EU average
DESI 2017*
DESI 2018
DESI 2019
DESI 2019
Value
Value
Value
Ranking
Value
At least basic digital skills
% of population
65% 
2016
67% 
2017
67% 
2017
8 
57%
2017
More than basic digital skills
% of population
35% 
2016
36% 
2017
36% 
2017
9 
31% 
2017
At least basic software skills
% of population
69% 
2016
71% 
2017
71% 
2017
7 
60% 
2017
ICT specialists
% of workers
4.0% 
2015
4.2% 
2016
4.4% 
2017
8 
3.7% 
2017
Female ICT specialists
% of female staff
1.2% 
2015
1.5% 
2016
1.5% 
2017
10 
1.4% 
2017
ICT graduates
% of all graduates
4.5% 
2014
4.0% 
2015
4.1% 
2016
12 
3.5% 
2015
* Not all indicators in the DESI reports are updated annually; some therefore refer to the previous year. For each value in the table, the year to which the 
data relate is given below. 
Source: European Commission (2019f). Graphic: iit.