Broadband catching on

New analysis by broadband specialists Point-Topic suggests household take-up of the service in the UK is set to near double by December 2008, from 34% of all homes at the end of 2005 to 64%.

Broadband take-up will be highest in south-east England, at between 80 and 90% of households, but remote rural areas will see the most rapid growth.

The highest numbers of homes with a broadband link are currently found in Swindon and the City of London – which boasts 1.6 cable or DSL modem connections for every resident.

At 51.1%, over half of Swindon households, typically families with young children, have broadband access. Both cable and DSL services are available in the town.

Take-up is also high in Wokingham, at 49.3%, Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Watford and in Stevenage – where 48% or more households enjoy broadband access.

A Point Topic survey earlier this year concluded that about one in 10 UK households now have at least one person working from home for all or part of the working week.

The typical homeworker, according to Point Topic, is a father, aged 25 to 44 years old and in middle management. Some 60 per cent, it adds, are self-employed, typically freelancers but with a good proportion running a business and employing people using part of their home as the office headquarters.

Point Topic’s survey found workers in the east, south-east and south-west of England more likely to work from home than those in any other region.

www.point-topic.co.uk