Broadband secrets revealed

Users not turned on by speed of broadband

Jane Wakefield BBC News Online technology staff

The presentation of the benefits of high-speed internet access have little to do with how people actually use broadband, a report has found.

The technology's often-touted selling points - speed and the capacity to be always on - have little clout with the people that use broadband, the study said.

Instead it found that the main advantage for users is that they do not have to worry about the cost of spending too much time online.

The work is part of a long-term project by the think-tank, the Work Foundation, into how people use technologies such as mobile phones and the internet.

Time to relax

Researchers looked into how ordinary people in small businesses and households in and around London and Leeds use broadband.

They found that people did not really care about the speed at which ADSL and cable allowed them to download websites and files.

Broadband doesn't do what it says on the tin

James Crabtree, i-Society

Instead broadband was actually slowing down surfer's interaction with the net.

"People are not doing things that require speed, so that is something of a red herring as a selling point," said James Crabtree, one of the authors of the report, which was conducted by as part of the i-Society project by the Work Foundation.

Broadband has removed the phobia of spending too much time online.

Many people using dial-up internet connections still worry about spending time online as it takes up the phone line and, in some cases, is still charged by the minute.

"Broadband is timeless time, it is about taking it easy," said Mr Crabtree.

Scary monster

The other big selling point of broadband has been the fact that can be always-on, an advantage which marketers have used to hype the internet as a seamless part of everyday life.

Computers just are not cute as pets

The reality is that broadband is not always on, simply because most users do not leave their computers on.

"The PC is more scary monster than household pet. It is rarely loved, sometimes feared," said Mr Crabtree.

Industry and the government is keen for broadband to be viewed as a commodity as essential as water and electricity.

But until technophobia is overcome, broadband is unlikely to be viewed in this way, said Mr Crabtree.

He suggested that far more easy-to-access practical help with broadband was needed as well as a new way of describing it that would appeal to families.

"Broadband doesn't do what it says on the tin," he concluded.