Internet 'helps expatriates keep in touch with home'

Improvements to communications over the past few years have greatly increased the ability of expatriates to keep in touch with family and friends back home, it has been suggested.

Moving abroad is still a major, life-changing decision, but the lack of contact with the UK is no longer a problem for Brits choosing to leave these shores, according to an Alliance & Leicester poll.

Some 63 per cent of expat survey respondents said they make use of broadband to go online and get in touch with people back home at least once a day.

And VoIP services have been a major factor in this - making voice contact between two users over the internet possible instead of having to communicate through email text.

Alliance & Leicester managing director Simon Hull said: "Our research shows that the internet has revolutionised the lives of expats, enabling them to go about their daily lives at the click of a button, any time of the day."

Last year, a record 207,000 British people chose to move abroad, according to the Office of National Statistics.

This suggests that IP telephony services and broadband communications may have helped ease concerns over losing touch with old friends or family members by heading overseas.