Save £1,200 with broadband
Moving to a cheap broadband provider could effectively save internet users almost £1,200.
That is according to new figures from broadband comparison site uSwitch.com, which calculates that compared with dial-up a heavy internet user could save considerable amounts of time, and therefore money, by changing.
If people use the time they spend waiting for webpages and files to download more productively, a heavy internet user could make enough money to fly two people to Sydney, an average internet user could buy a brand new 27-inch widescreen television, and even a light user would make enough to buy an iPod Nano.
In purely monetary terms, a heavy internet user could save some £1,188 by moving to a cheap broadband provider in the 108 hours of their life they spend each year waiting for downloads, while the average dial-up customer could save 54 hours or £600.
But despite the obvious benefits, some 5.4 million UK homes are still connecting to the internet using dial-up, meaning that some £3.2 billion worth of time is wasted every year in the UK.
For those not inclined to spend the time they save working, uSwitch also calculates that a heavy internet user could save enough time to watch every single match in the World Cup.
"With fierce competition in the broadband market resulting in the wider availability of faster speeds at cheaper prices, and 2006 set to see the widespread launch of IPTV [internet television], there is no excuse for people not to make the switch from dial-up to broadband," said Chris Williams, uSwitch's telecoms expert.
"For as little as an extra £2 a month, the average internet user could connect to the internet at speeds over 35 times faster," he added.
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