Internet Connectivity Increases

The number of subscriptions to the internet increased by 11.5% between January and December 2001, according to the latest Index of Internet Connectivity report from the Office Of National Statistics (ONS).

According to the report, the number of subscriptions to internet service providers (ISPs) has increased in almost every month since January 2001, the only exception being May, when there was a decrease of 1.3% compared with April. The largest month on month increase was between September and October, when internet connectivity rose by 2.8%, while the month on month change between November and December was 0.6%.

The figures show that subscription levels in December increased by 0.3% for dial-up connections and 10.1% for permanent connections. Dial-up connections continue to dominate the overall number of subscriptions, according to the ONS, but permanent connections are continuing to increase their share. Permanent connections made up just over 3% of total inscriptions in December 2001, up form 2.9% in November 2001.

Last month internet service provider, Freeserve claimed to have gained over 250,000 “net active 40-day accounts” during the fourth quarter of 2001 and announced that on average it gained more than 3,000 new subscribers every day during the twelve week period (see Freeserve Ads Pay Off).

Office of National Statistics: 020 7533 5888 www.statistics.gov.uk

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