Broadband 'On The Up' As Dial-up Dies Out

Just over nine in ten UK internet connections are now made through broadband, ISPreview.co.uk reports.

New government figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that in March 2008 broadband accounted for 91.6 per cent of connections, which is up from 88.3 per cent in September 2007 and 83.6 per cent one year before.

For newly-enabled internet connections, a 0.3 per cent increase was registered for the quarter, down from 1.4 per cent in the final three months of 2007. The slowing pace could mean that the overall home internet market in the UK is becoming saturated.

Dial-up connections, widely used before broadband was introduced, have continued to lose popularity. Just 8.4 per cent of connections were found to now be dial-up, a 15 per cent drop over the previous quarter.

Broadband connection speeds were also found to be on the increase by ONS, with 56.0 per cent enjoying quicker downloads than 2Mbps. As of December 2007, this figure stood at 51.2 per cent. In 2006, the figure was just 37.5 per cent.

"It's noted that some of the previous quarter’s broadband and dialup statistics have had to be adjusted due to misreporting and late responses by some internet service providers," the report adds.