New research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests more than 19 out of 20 UK connections to the Internet are via broadband.
In December 2008, broadband connections accounted for 95.1 per cent of all Internet connections, up from 94.1 per cent in September 2008.
Despite continuing increases in broadband connections, a 17.5 per cent decrease in dial-up resulted in a 0.3 per cent fall in the index of all connections between September and December 2008.
The market share of broadband connections has been increasing since the index began in 2001, reflecting its continuing popularity, widespread availability and increasingly competitive connection packages.
Broadband connections rose to 95.1 per cent of all connections in December 2008, up from 94.1 per cent in September 2008. There was a year on year increase in the index of broadband connections of 4.4 per cent, with a quarterly increase of 0.8 per cent.
Dial-up connections continued to decrease, with a year on year fall in the index of 51.7 per cent to December 2008. The quarterly decrease, from September 2008 to December 2008, was 17.5 per cent.
The proportion of higher speed connections continues to increase. In December 2008, 59.6 per cent of broadband connections had a speed greater than 2Mbps, which is an increase from 57.7 per cent in September 2008.
Over the same period, the percentage of connections with a speed of less than or equal to 2Mbps decreased to 40.4 per cent in December 2008, down from 42.3 per cent in September 2008.
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(Reuters)
