Fifteen million households in the UK now have internet access, with 84 per cent connecting via broadband.
The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that since 2002 the total number of UK households with internet access has jumped by over four million. In a regional breakdown, Scotland fares relatively well. In 2007 some 60 per cent of Scottish household had a net connection, slightly under the UK average of 61 per cent but significantly ahead of most English regions. Only London, South West, South East and the East of England managed better connectivity percentages, and then only by a margin of nine per cent or less.
In terms of households with broadband, Scotland again was a player, with 50 per cent of connections being broadband, one per cent below the UK average and only two per cent under the England only average. Of the remaining Scottish households, 40 per cent had no internet connection and 10 per cent were on non-broadband connections.
The National Statistics report also examined the reasons behind why people with dial up and other internet access did not switch to broadband. The most common reason given at 40 per cent, was that they did not need a broadband connection, 29 per cent said it was another reason, 21 per cent said it was too expensive, and 15 per cent said it was not available in their area or they could access broadband elsewhere.
The report also contains information on the age demographics of UK web traffic, frequency of internet use, online activities and purchasing patterns. Download a PDF version of the report.
Meanwhile, BT Retail has become the UK’s first broadband supplier to pass the four million customer mark.
BT Retail had 172,000 broadband customers in June 2002 when BT put broadband at the heart of its strategy. The acceleration to four million has taken just over five years meaning a new customer has been added on average every 40 seconds over this period. This also equates to more than 2,000 new customers each day during that period. The last million customers have been added in ten months.
This dramatic rise in connections has led to the UK overtaking most of its main competitors in terms of broadband penetration. Only Canada is ahead of the UK in the G8 meaning the UK is ahead of Japan, France, Germany and the US. Of the 15 million connections in the UK, approximately 11.5 million are running over the BT network. The rest are carried via the UK’s cable network.
BT Retail chief executive Ian Livingston said: “Broadband has proved to be one of the most popular new services ever seen. It is already delivering next generation television, inclusive free phone calls in High Definition sound and great value mobile calls. Broadband can provide so many more services than just internet surfing and it has become central to many people’s lives and businesses.”
