Broadband users increase

[Brian Turner]

The number of people connected to broadband in the UK has almost doubled in a year, official figures show. Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show 27% of UK net connections are broadband, while dial-up is down to 73% from 85% in April last year.

Recent fervent competition between broadband net providers has seen prices fall, making broadband more attractive.

Broadband analysts say it is a "gold rush" for consumers, with competition giving more choice and cheaper deals.

"While broadband has been available in UK for some years now, when it initially launched, prices were typically about £40 to £50," Jupiter analyst Ian Fogg explained to BBC News Online.

"Although you had much faster, always on connection, the price gap between dial-up and broadband was large."


More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3818639.stm