If new data from Nielsen Online is anything to go by, growth in the SA Internet is accelerating fast.

According to the Nielsen data, the number of South Africans accessing the Web at least monthly increased 53% year on year, to 7,5m people in the last quarter of 2009. Unique monthly browsers, both domestic and international, increased 52% to reach 14,9m.

The Nielsen data, released by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), shows that 111 000 more South Africans a day visited OPA member sites in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared the same period in 2008.

The sites also enjoyed a big increase in the number of international browsers, with nearly 145 000 more foreign Internet users visiting SA sites each day.

Head of marketing at the OPA, Karen Dempers, says the growth should continue in 2010 as South Africans take advantage of new uncapped broadband offerings.

“This should favourably impact the number of pages viewed by browsers, the length of time they spend online, and their willingness to engage with higher-bandwidth services like online video,” she says.

Publication of the Nielsen statistics follows research firm World Wide Worx’s finding last month that the number of South Africans using the Internet via broadband connections leapt 50% in the past 12 months. — Staff reporter, TechCentral