Statistics reveal one quarter of UK population online

NEWS Twenty five per cent of UK households are now online, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics. The figures include the 6.5 million households that accessed the internet from a PC at home in the first three months of this year and do not take into account interactive digital television. E-minister Patricia Hewitt welcomed the findings, but said that the government still has a long way to go to reach its target of universal access by 2005. She said in a statement: "That is why we are connecting all our schools and libraries and taking the internet to poorer communities through UK Online centres." UK internet access will see another boost as soon as the next generation of mobile phones come online, she added.