Comments on: More People Value High-Speed Broadband than currently have it?

By: Stephen Hilton

Stephen Hilton — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:38:23 +0000

I also wondered about the impact of the unit of analysis as single person households are likely to be under represented…

There will, of course, be some households that have broadband where one or more of the occupants don't think it is important (maybe because they are under 2 years old, or perhaps because they are deceased?) and there will be households that don't have broadband but would like it, for example, if they could afford it… I wonder which is the bigger group?

By: Stephen Hilton

Stephen Hilton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:19:09 +0000

Hi David, is your Government doing anything to ensure that everyone can gain access to high-speed broadband? Is there a German equivalent to Lord Carter?

By: David

David — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:52:48 +0000

Hey,

i’m from a village in germany, unfortunately we don’t have ADSL here.
It is rarely possible to connect above Sky DSL but this is lame

grEEtz -David-

By: life in the slow lane

life in the slow lane — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:12:43 +0000

I would hardly call the home broadband that people receive at home high speed! My mother only gets 256Kbps in her rural setting. It’s like surfing through treacle when I go to say and she pays more for her connection than I do!

By: drbond

drbond — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:00:18 +0000

drbind a good new alias ; ) I have been reading too much bad science to let those kind of comparisons go… i guess the gap would be made up of those in very isolated rural communities and the most impoverished, so def a problem…

By: Stephen Hilton

Stephen Hilton — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:49:30 +0000

okay drbind, fair cop on the lazy comparison but you have to admit that the findings of the study are interesting –

*Most people with broadband at home feel already that they could not be without it. 73 per cent of such people described it as essential or important. People with broadband at home value it more highly than their mobile phone, land line or digital TV.

*Most people (regardless of whether they have broadband or not) consider that it is essential for some groups of people to have broadband at home, notably people with school-age children and people who are physically isolated.

*Most people consider that in the near future it will be essential for everyone to have broadband at home. 84 per cent agreed (46 per cent strongly) that it should be possible to have broadband at home, regardless of where people live. 81 per cent agreed (42 per cent strongly) that it is everyone’s right to be able to have broadband at home;

*People who do not have it are expected to be at a significant disadvantage. This is because people expect that more vital services will be delivered solely online in the future, or be provided offline in a way that penalises people who access them in this way, perhaps at a higher cost or lower quality. It is expected that people will miss out in respect of a wide range of services and activities: shopping, banking, school work, public services, and downloading TV content.

Full report is here http://www.communicationsconsumerpanel.org.uk/smartweb/not-online-not-included/not-online-not-included

By: drbond

drbond — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:55:05 +0000

You are comparing two completely different measurement methods… if the first stat was “UK individuals with broadband access at home” then the comparison would be valid

By: Stephen Hilton

Stephen Hilton — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:34:01 +0000

I also wondered about the impact of the unit of analysis as single person households are likely to be under represented…

There will, of course, be some households that have broadband where one or more of the occupants don’t think it is important (maybe because they are under 2 years old, or perhaps because they are deceased?) and there will be households that don’t have broadband but would like it, for example, if they could afford it… I wonder which is the bigger group?

By: drbond

drbond — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:19:26 +0000

can’t households have more than one person?

By: Stephen Hilton

Stephen Hilton — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:16:30 +0000

Okay, I am up for doing some convincing…