'Broadband will change your life'

Or just save you from endless repeats

Figures out today show that broadband Britain is growing faster than ever - and it's making a stab at equality.

Statistics from NOP World now reckon 41 per cent of internet connections are made through fat pipes, compared to just 27 per cent six months ago. The most recent set of figures from the government said just under 30 per cent were made over broadband.

NOP World also found the number of women ditching dial-up has risen - 48 per cent of those favouring broadband are women, compared to 46 per cent six months ago. Internet users now run at around 58 per cent of the population - that's 26.8 million of us logging on in the UK.

It appears that broadband is enough to turn heads of UK users: the research found that 12 per cent changed ISPs in the last six months and 14 per cent expect to do so in the next six, chiefly because they want to migrate from dial-up to broadband.

Instead of just being a faster way to connect to the internet, it seems having a fat pipe can actually affect the way people live their lives.

Michael Beech, CEO of NOP World, said online trends can affect offline behaviour, with broadband 'super users' watching less TV than the average UK population, for example.