Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2008 Internet Access report show that almost 65 per cent of homes – roughly 16.46 million households – do not have internet access in the UK. This is an increase of 1.23 million households over the previous year. Around 35 per cent of UK homes do not have an internet connection as compared to just 43 per cent two years ago.

Among the homes that do have internet access, only 9 per cent of people use dial-up connections. On the whole, around 56 per cent of UK homes have broadband internet access, which is an increase of 5 per cent on 2007. On the other hand, among the households that do not have internet, most homeowners said that they do want online access, even if not on an immediate basis. So, here is a huge opportunity waiting to be tapped.

The report also showed that the Brits may be becoming somewhat more tech-savvy across the board as only 15 per cent of people said that they do not have internet owing to lack of skills or knowledge. The report highlighted that fact that people having no formal qualifications are very less likely to have an internet connection in their home. One more highlight of the report is that it showed that adults aged over 65 are less likely to use the web.