By Dan Ilett, 8 August 2006 17:20
NEWS
Broadband users in the UK are going online for the equivalent of 50 days per year as they switch to the web for banking, shopping and entertainment.
A YouGov survey of 15,323 users has found surfing the net is the most popular activity for people who use broadband. Entertainment, such as radio, TV and making phone calls, is the next most popular activity.
Respondents surf the web for seven hours 54 minutes per week on average. Users clocked up four hours and 40 minutes playing online games, followed by three hours and 26 minutes on email. Watching video online took up an average of two hours and 23 minutes per week, while internet shopping took up one hour and 53 minutes.
A spokeswoman for uSwitch, which commissioned the study, told silicon.com: "People also found they pay too much for the internet. Most people who have a broadband connection take out a 12-month contract. By the time this has ended the broadband market has moved on so much that prices have come down."
The survey found internet and TV shopping are growing but not fast enough to prop up growth in the UK's home delivery business.
But a spokeswoman for ITV told silicon.com people still prefer to watch TV than surf the web.
She said: "TV is still the nation's most popular pastime, with the average viewer watching nearly 26 hours per week. This is essentially flat year-on-year so there is no sign of the internet disrupting total TV viewing levels."
Research from Point Topic, an internet connectivity research company, claims the broadband market has seen its worst quarter of growth since 2004.
It said market turmoil is causing the slow growth in broadband adoption, which accelerated by only 730,000 in the second quarter of 2006.
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1. Chris Stevens
Wot - "23.5 hours" on-line?? Are they saying people only use the Internet one day a week?