Internet connectivity in the UK
The UK Office for National Statistics reveals some interesting facts about internet connectivity in its latest report on the subject. Such is the widespread use of the web in the UK that the government department has, quite remarkably in our opinion, decided that there will be no further publications on the subject.
Some of the facts revealed are:
1. More than 19 out of 20 connections were via broadband
2. Broadband connections accounted for 95.1% of all internet use
3. This was a rise of 4.4% over the previous year, showing the plateau being reached
4. Dial-up internet access dropped by 17.5% in the year
5. Internet use overall DROPPED by 0.3%, for the first time ever
6. In 2005, dial-up accounted for over a third of all connections - it is now 4.9%
Did you read point 5? A drop in internet use overall? The reason given for this is that whilst conversion to broadband was almost complete, the number of people still using dial-up had seen an element of them decide the web was too slow for them. The development of more intensive experiences online (graphically or otherwise) has all but made the browsing on dial-up an impossibility (or a testing time to say the least).
The proportion of what the government classes as high-speed connections continues to rise:
1. 59.6% of connections were at 2 Mbps or higher
2. That is a 2% increase year on year
3. 10% of internet connections enjoy 10 Mbps or higher
Unfortunately there is a little sub-note in the report. The speeds are those reported by the ISP's and not the speeds in real life, as witnessed by end users. So, if you signed up for a package offering 8mb, but you're actually getting 1.7mb - they have you in the 2 Mbps to 8 Mbps catgeory!
Why are they scrapping the report though? As you'll see in the right hand column of this article, we think they should continue it.
The Last Report?
According to the Office of National Statistics, they'll be scrapping this report from hereon.
The report goal is to 'collect data on the number of active internet connections' - and an active connection is classified as someone connecting once a month.
In our opinion the survey (which has been going on for 4 years) has a value still. It monitors connection speeds being offered and we see no reason why the same survey cannot be used to monitor the deployment, and take-up, of very high-speed internet access. By that, we mean the delivery of 20 Mbps services over coming years.
If the UK government genuinely wish to maintain impetus in driving high-tech services across the country then it had to report statistics on their progress - and they must be public.
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