Internet ‘in 75% of homes by end of year’

Three-quarters of all households in the UK will have internet access by the end of the year, new research suggests.

Some 70 per cent of adults are currently online at home and the figure will rise in the coming months, according to Ofcom.

Of those who do not have internet access, many expressed an indifference as to why they would need it, the industry regulator revealed.

Some 42 per cent of people without the internet said they had chosen not to go online because of a lack of interest or need, while 30 per cent said the main reason was cost or that they did not have the skills or knowledge to get connected.

According to Ofcom, “the self-excluded tend to be older and retired”, with 61 per cent of them never having used a computer.

Earlier this month, a study from the Nielsen Company suggested that the online advertising sector has “continued to thrive” since the start of the year, in contrast to other media which have struggled to attract advertising.

Alex Burmaster, the firm’s online communications director, said the research should give media owners and online publishers optimism for the year ahead.