NetValue reported that more than 452 million emails were sent and received by British homes in January in addition to more than 100 million web based emails, sent using programs such as Hotmail and Yahoo! In total, 550 million emails were sent during January compared to 258 million domestic letters handled by the Royal Mail.
“This is a real milestone for email. Although only widely available to the public since 1995, the email has surpassed hundreds of years of domestic Royal Mail services in a few years. We live in a fast-paced world and people want instant communications. Unsurprisingly, email now is in favour of the traditional letter,” commented Alki Manias, managing director of NetValue UK.
Other findings from the report:
- Nearly 13 million people regularly use email from their home computers, sending 12.3 and received 39.1 emails on average during December 2001 (per internet user and per mailbox).
- The UK easily leads Europe in email usage, sending more than 170 million than the French and 185 million more than the Germans per month.
- NetValue also reports an increase in home email volumes from last year. Approximately 127 million more emails were sent during December 2001 than the same period 2000.
