Survey: 9 out of 10 Britons unwilling to give up broadband

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 12:00

Despite household budgets facing a squeeze, more than nine out of ten (93.3 per cent) of Britons would be unwilling to give up their home broadband connection in order to economise, a new poll has found.

According to the survey by Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, this means that around 10.3 million households now see the web as a necessity that should be immune from cost-cutting.

Steve Fletcher of Yorkshire Bank said: "Broadband internet access has clearly become a priority for those homes that have it."

Another 62.2 per cent of respondents said they would not be prepared to sacrifice their satellite or cable TV subscription in order to save money, while over half (52.2 per cent) wanted to preserve their overseas holidays.

Britons looking to economise were mostly likely to cut back on downloads of music and movies.

There was also a 22.5 per cent drop in the number of people who would be unwilling to give up their membership of a gym or sports club compared with 2009.

A recent study by regulator Ofcom and SamKnows found that in April 2010, the typical download rate for a broadband connection was 45 per cent of the average "up to" speed advertised by providers.

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• spending habits