Home page » Networking

Search:

Are you reading this on dial-up? Then you're soooo in the minority.

New figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show, that as of September, 88.4 per cent of web surfing Brits use a broadband connection. Furthermore, we like our speed too with 49.2 per cent of those connections rated at (or at least advertised as) 2Mbps or faster.

Incredibly, this compares to a figure of just 17 per cent of web users having broadband in April 2003 said ONS and indicates that the sharp fall in prices coupled with the nationwide flood of ISP advertising (we all loved Pipex's use of The Hoff) over the last four years has made a strong impression.

Countering this however are two less rosy stats. The first is that in June 86.2 per cent of web users already had broadband which suggests the market is reaching saturation point, a fact which will terrify ISPs who know they have to provide ever greater speeds to a potentially flat customer base. The second is that despite the large take up of broadband it is mostly upgraders from dial-up who are making the switch, not those without Web access altogether which still accounts for a massive 40 per cent of all British households.

So in short, those surfing the web nearly all choose to do it now via a broadband connection but broadband technology in itself isn't enough to persuade the anti-Internet brigade to go online.

The big question we have to ask in all this? Would making them read my news change both their opinions and consequently the social and economic future of this country? I like to think so... ;)

Link:
National Statistics 'Internet Connectivity' Report (Warning PDF link)

Add your comment

© 2003-2008 TrustedReviews | About Us | Contact Us | Legal | Privacy | RSS