BT to investigate broadband resisters

With communications being revolutionised by the spread of broadband, service provider and telecoms giant BT is to conduct research to find out why large numbers of people are still resisting using the internet.

Figures released last month by the industry regulator Ofcom showed that 47 per cent of people in the UK do not have a broadband connection at home, meaning they have no residential access to services such as voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

To discover the reason for this, BT's Crossing the Divide initiative will see psychologists study a group of British people who are resisting the trend to sign up to broadband.

According to early research, some Brits find using the internet as stressful as taking a bungee jump, which prompted Gavin Patterson, a BT spokesman to observe: "The gap between the competent internet user and those who have never been online has never been greater."

The availability of fast internet connections using broadband has spread quickly across the country in the past few years, spurred by media coverage, strong early adoption rates and the development of wireless technology which has connected many town and city centres to the web.