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3m want broadband

Really?

Three million punters - a third of UK Net users - want broadband, according to research from Oftel.

This evidence of demand should bring a smile to the faces of those ISPs and telco's who have staked their future prosperity on broadband.

What the Oftel research fails to uncover is what exactly is stopping these three million businesses and families from hooking up to broadband.

For an answer, we call on those well-rehearsed arguments of lack of supply (a third of the UK can't get ADSL), price (£25 is still too much for some), content, awareness, etc.

Then again, customers can be so fickle sometimes and often say one thing but mean another.

Curiously, the issue of price is still important. Even though most the major ISPs dismiss price as relevant (ignoring the fact that the "big boys" are involved in a price war at present), it should be noted that the biggest single group calling for broadband is among high income users living in more affluent areas of the country.

Or to put it another way, people who say they want broadband is them what can afford it.

Anyhow, you can peruse Oftel's latest survey on Net use here. ®

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