The number of online or Internet users will rise to 150 million - from 38 million - or half the population of western Europe within the next six years, a new study suggests.

Commmissioned by Nortel Networks, the Internet and telecoms networking provider, the study shows that rapidly rising demand for service will result in a huge increase in deployment of Internet protocol (IP) technology and new services and applications.

According to Nortel's president and chief executive, Mr John Roth, the rise in Internet users also signals a bright future for e-commerce throughout Europe, where it is just beginning to develop. The US, in contrast, accounts for more than half of all online users and 75 per cent of all e-commerce transactions worldwide.

The study conducted by independent telecoms consultant Ovum forecasts peak-time international bandwidth traffic in western Europe will rise to 1,700 gigabits per second (Gbps), a 40-fold increase from this year's level. Only 30 per cent of the traffic on the new networks, however, will be voice services by 2005.

IP telephony, which offers many new services at about half the connectivity costs of current networks, is expected to burgeon with as much as 80 per cent of US households and 60 per cent of European households having access to the services.

The survey shows that 89 per cent of European Internet users are concerned about the quality of the Internet, with their greatest concerns about security, confidentiality and slow service.

Applications such as IP telephony, unified messaging, and improved e-commerce applications that integrate the Web, multimedia conferencing, and IP-enabled call centres are forecast to take hold in Europe.