Rory Cellan-Jones

LONDON, UK: Many now see broadband access as a basic right UK consumers now believe broadband is becoming as essential a utility as electricity or water, according to a panel of government advisers.

Some 73per cent of those questioned described a high-speed connection as important.

The Communications Consumer Panel's research involved 16 focus groups and a face-to-face survey with 2,000 people across the UK.

Its findings will be submitted to Lord Carter's Digital Britain review, due to be published on 16 June.

Missing out

It is expected that the report will include a government commitment to provide universal broadband at a speed of 2Mbps (megabits per second) by 2012.

The chair of the Communications Consumer Panel Anna Bradley said: "The key message is that people think broadband is at a tipping point.

"It's fantastically useful for everyone, essential for some now, but will be essential for everyone in the near future.

"It is being compared by consumers to gas and electricity - things which they think we all ought to have access to, almost as a right."

Those questioned in the survey said people who did not have broadband would be at a disadvantage, missing out on services such as shopping, banking and public services as they were increasingly being delivered online. The report showed that people currently value broadband for accessing information and for communicating, but a growing proportion are now using it for entertainment services, such as streaming TV content.

(Source: BBC News)