Fifty-Five Percent of Brits Shun Broadband
Despite being informed regularly through various mediums about the array of advantages of broadband, whether by way of online banking, purchasing inexpensive insurance or simply catching up on TV-viewing, millions of people are still unconvinced about its utility. This fact was revealed by Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, while delivering a speech at the London School of Economics.
Mr. Richards’ comments come in the context of surprising data released by Ofcom this week, showing that more than half of the British population is not interested in a broadband connection.
According to the statistic, 55 percent of the British population showed no interest in even the most basic broadband services. Of this figure, 30 percent could not afford to incur extra expenses while 15 percent argued that even if the costs were justified they simply did not own a computer, so it did not matter either way. For information on broadband services and costs, click here.
Mr. Richards in his speech also criticised the proposed plans for a 2 Mb minimum speed Universal Service Obligation. He said that instead of waiting for an entirely new network it would be much more cost-effective for homes to receive basic in-house wiring upgrade so that they could start accessing broadband services.
He expressed the need to resolve the problem of lower income households that cannot afford internet services. He said that before looking for solutions, the reason for the lack of even basic internet access in nearly 40 per cent of British homes must be first found out.
