50% Of UK 'Not Interested' In Internet

Research conducted by Point Topic in the first two months of 2006 show that around half of UK households do not have internet access and are not intending to get it, despite the slew of free broadband offers available. Most new broadband connections are simply replacing existing dial up. According The Register, 44 per cent of UK households don't have net access and views are becoming more entrenched. 44.8 per cent of those households don't think the net is important at all (another 29.8 per cent think it's not very important). And 70 per cent of those households thought it unlikely, or not very likely, that they'd get online.

Two thirds of households surveyed don't have a PC, and alternatives aren't considered very attractive. Only 14 per cent of non-access households rated a TV or mobile phone as a good alternative to PC-based net access. Email-capable phones, games consoles, and PDAs rated even lower.