Source: Ekathimerini

Over half of Greek households are equipped with an Internet connection, while men are more ardent web surfers than women, a recent study for the year 2011 by Focus Bari, commissioned by electronics chain Electronet, has found.

Internet penetration, meanwhile, has almost tripled in the past decade, with 59 percent of Greeks today using the Internet regularly as a news and entertainment source, compared to just 18 percent in 2001. The technology has also increased, with 51 percent of Greek households opting for double/triple play packages, up from 46 percent in 2010.

Furthermore, 36 percent of Greeks log on systematically to social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and others, a level that has remained more or less steady for the past two years, while the study also found that men have not wavered in their enthusiasm for the web. Specifically, of all Internet users in Greece, 54 percent are male. Among teenagers aged 13-17, however, the story is quite different, as 92 percent of males and females in that age bracket log on regularly.

In the 18-24 age group, penetration is also high, with men using the Internet at a percentage of 92 percent and women at 87 percent, while in the 25-34 age bracket, 82 percent of users are men and 73 percent women, and in the 35-44 age group 68 percent are men and 62 percent women.

As Greek Internet users get older, the gender gap appears to widen: In the 45-54 age group, users are 50 percent male and 38 percent female, while in the 55-70 bracket, just 12 percent of users are women, compared to 22 percent who are men.

Finally, 10 percent of Greeks log on to the Internet through their mobile telephones and 12 percent of the population made at least one online purchase in 2011.

Source: Bloomberg

 Greece expects to receive advice in about a month on how to proceed with the sale of its stakes in the country’s two largest ports and 800 smaller harbors and marinas, according to Andreas Taprantzis, Executive Director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, known as HRADF.

“We are expecting a decision from our advisers in about four to five weeks’ time,” Taprantzis said in an interview in Athens on Jan. 25. “We are not sure yet as to how we will package the sale, but if you sell Piraeus Port and Thessaloniki Port individually then this may make it harder to sell the other ports.”

In addition to selling its 74 percent stakes this year in the operators of the country’s two largest ports, Greece will sell its 100 percent stakes in the smaller harbors of Volos, Rafina, Igoumenitsa, Patras, Alexandroupoli, Iraklio, Elefsina, Lavrio, Corfu and Kavala.

One option would be to sell regional groups of ports; Piraeus Port, near Athens, would lead a group that includes Rafina, Elefsina and Lavrio that are all located in the metropolitan area of the Greek capital, he said.

Morgan Stanley and Piraeus Bank SA are advising on the privatization of the 12 Greek ports, part of a plan to raise 65 billion euros ($85.5 billion) from state-asset sales and real estate redevelopment. Greece is also selling around 800 small ports and marinas throughout the country, Taprantzis said.

The fund, set up oversee privatizations, will start the sale process for Greek natural gas supplier Depa SA and gas grid operator Desfa by the end of this month, he said.