Two in five Brits on broadband

The Guardian technology blog points out that three-quarters of those who are online in the UK are now on broadband. This is great news: obviously, the faster the internet, the more usable and flexible it is, and the more frustrating it isn't. And as designers, we can finally begin to abandon that old, annoying question: "how's it going to load on dial-up?"

But as the Guardian rightly say, without absolute figures for internet usage, the statistic has limited application. According to the EU's statistics office, 57% of Brits use the internet at least once a week, with 63% of all households having internet access available. (Figures relate to the first quarter of 2006.)

While not the most-connected nation in Europe (that prize goes to Iceland, with a massive 84% of their tiny population online), 42.75% of Brits now on broadband is fantastic news for the UK's ecommerce industry.