Most Brits Now Online

Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

MOST BRITS NOW ONLINE

New study shows widespread use of broadband is enhancing e-commerce

The British have taken to the Internet bigtime, with latest statistics indicating that 56.7 percent of the population are now online....and 73 percent of those are using broadband.

A new report from eMarketer says that rapid growth this year has significantly increased the number of households using the Internet (2004: 46 percent)

BT's broadband-enabling lines are now open to competing ISPs at wholesale rates, and this has meant that the UK is fast becoming the top broadband country in Western Europe in only three years.

"As a percentage of online users, eMarketer projects that the UK will catch up with the US by 2008," says James Belcher, eMarketer senior analyst and author of The UK Online report.

The prediction is that the market to provide broadband is now so competitive that ISPs will increasingly offer the triple play of Internet, TV and phone service from one provider.

This will position TV over Internet protocol (IPTV) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) as solid alternatives to existing television and phone options, suiting the 41 percent of customers who have said they want such services.

In addition, e-commerce is growing as a result of more broadband power.

"British users are getting more comfortable with completing transactions on their high-speed connections, and that's making for robust growth in e-commerce," says Belcher.

"As users gain even more experience, they buy higher-ticket items on the Web-even to the detriment of some physical High Street retail stores."

The full study is available through eMarketer.com.