An Ofcom study suggests that 2 in 10 people without internet access at home intend to get it within the next six months. They say that 70% of us already have it (68% broadband 2% narrowband!). So the 20% of the remaining 30% suggests that 6% of the whole population will rush to sign up in the next 6 months.
That’s a fairly significant number of people signing up. Being a bit of a sceptic sometimes I did read the report (exec summary anyway, me being an exec and all) to see whether I could believe it.
Actually there is one simple metric that does tend to support the number and that is the growth in people with PCs at home. The chart below shows the growth in fixed, mobile, internet and PC use at home. You can see that a significant 4 percent of people have a PC but not an internet connection. That together with a continued growth trend does suggest credibility.
Note the flat mobile growth and the gradual decline in fixed line.
Tags: broadband growth, Ofcom