Lithuania is a basketball crazy nation – which may seem odd if you know little about this newer European Union state. Lithuania has had a long history with basketball even in the days of the Soviet Union (USSR).

Lithuania will also be hosting the Mens European Championships in summer 2011. Something to look forward too. I guess as the days grow darker and colder, indoor team sports like Basketball are good for the fans and the players.

Vilnius was recently host to the 2010 U18 Mens / boys European Basketball Championship. In the final Lithuania bet Russia and Latvia took third place.

Basketball seems to be a contact sport that involves lots of jumping on each other – in a nice way – not in an ugly rugby maul.

I actually thought the Green n Gold colours belonged to some small island nation in the South Pacific. But with ‘zombie’ fans like this showing their appreciation for the local winners … who needs enemies?

Damien Saunders

In Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania its youth get up to no good. Just like all young people do! Here’s a few photos from the last week to prove how bad these youngsters can be.

Vilnius main drag @4pm on the HOTTEST day (ever) is deserted cause word had got around that 2 skate boarding youth were taking over the town.

Vilnius main tourist attraction is its iconic cathedral and separate bell tower, in this shot the youth of today are street dancing! or is that break dancing?

of course – their mere presence was enough to scare off the toughest of the tourists and ‘pensioners’

At the other end of the square … a much regular bunch of youth who are into acrobatics and stunts (called Parkour) had been scared off by a group of oldies out on a stag do.

that left the skaters to do their worst …

Watch out for my next post on what happens when you go to a Basketball match and the national team win!

Damien Saunders

In Lithuania mobile penetration is almost at 150% – so is this all from younger people sim swapping?

Mobile Youth in Lithuania (16-24 yo) are all using multi-sims for the best deals and free calls. The 3 main operators are Omnitel, Bite and Tele2. Freedom of choice means that handsets are not subsidised very much and customers have to pay full price for a phone. Even the the ‘popular’ iPhone is over priced and still exclusive with one operator and on a 24 month contract.

I previously posted about the high stats for internet usage in the younger age group .. at around 95% with internet access. what I didn’t mention is that about 1.3 million users in total have internet access via their mobile phone so a high number of younger people may have primary access to the internet only using their phone.

So far mobile youth are calling and texting each other – one thing I discovered is that MMS has not taken off. This could be due to fly by night mobile marketing tactics that have caused much negativity so I’m learning.

Of course – GetJar one of the largest free app stores is a Lithuanian company, probably with high hopes for good growth in paid for mobile internet usage and apps.

Damien Saunders

In Lithuania the usage of the internet is reaching saturation point. A 2009 official report shows 95% of young people aged 16-24 with internet access.

Lithuania has one of the highest per capita access to broadband ratios due to small land mass and population of just under 4 million. It’s also atypical of ‘westernised’ European markets and the Lithuanian youth are no different – wanting mobile phones, good clothes, good education and a future with a good job (most likely in London).

Internet Usage for the younger age group is strong because of ease of access at school, home or work and using their mobile. The same study indicated that 94% have young people have at least weekly access to the internet.

Actual demand or needs driven internet usage has a long way to go – one of the most common online activities is internet banking, internet shopping is not as common as you might expect.

Of course the usual youth internet needs are met – chat to friends, use & manage social networks and consume social media.

Are you working in Eastern Europe? Got any ideas on how to grow internet usage? or market to younger people.

Damien Saunders

Recent indepth report from New Media Age in the UK focused on the internet usage habits of kids.

Kids research is hard – the age group is from 7 – 13. They are already exposed to a lot of marketing, aware of trends and ‘peer pressure’, but still very much aware of having to please their parents all of the time. It’s also very difficult to ask questions about anything anti-social, illegal due to the young age and formative, questioning minds.

It also provides some great insights into what kids say they are doing with their mobiles, about a fifth or 21% say they are already going online with their mobile phones.

[via new media age]

Damien Saunders