Broadband Providers UK

A guide to the major broadband providers in the UK

21 December 2003

UK hits 3 million broadband mark
David Lee

Latest figures from Oftel show that the UK now has more than three million homes and businesses with high-speed broadband access. Current figures indicate that half of all UK households and two-thirds of businesses are now online. This means that one in five homes that do have inter net access get it through a broadband connection. This is more than twice as many homes as last year. The telecoms watchdog (soon to be replaced by Ofcom) reported that Broadband Providers in the UK are supplying 40,000 new connections every week.

Broadband Providers in the UK are involved in a fast growing technology. E-commerce minister Stephen Timms said the three million figure had been reached earlier than expected and was great news for the broadband market.

Currently, 80% of UK's population can get access to broadband via fixed ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), but much of that percentage is clustered in urban areas. The figure is expected to reach 90% in 2004, according to BT, a main broadband network supplier. Broadband through cable connections, offered by companies like NTL and Telewest, reaches about 40% of the population. BT said that every UK community could have access to broadband by 2005.

Many rural communities which cannot get ADSL or cable broadband connections have had to find alternative ways to get high-speed net, using technologies like wireless net and satellite connections.

Broadband gives web users an "always on" connection - usually giving downloading speeds of about 512kbps. However, most Broadband Providers in the UK also offer faster as well as slower packages than 512kbps. And Oftel's figures include the minimum 128kbps and 150kbps connection speeds available from many Broadband Providers which some commentators say are not fast enough to be considered true broadband.

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David Lee is a consultant with http://www.internet-marketing-24.com

This article courtesy of http://www.broadband-providers-uk.co.uk

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