Britons are late adopters but big online shoppers say Ofcom

Late adopters of superfast broadband

Ofcom's latest international communications report identified Britons as Europe's biggest online shoppers but late adopters of superfast broadband, which is found in only 4% of homes in the UK.

89% of British Net users who were consulted by Ofcom claimed to have visited online shops, with 79% making online purchases. Perhaps as a result of this online purchasing awareness, UK householders were judged by the regulator to be benefiting from good deals on Net services, with a typical bundle of phone, mobile, broadband and pay TV services cheaper than any other country in Europe.

However, the UK joined the remainder of Europe in lagging behind on a global scale when it comes to fast broadband services, its 4% take-up figure dwarfed by the 40% of Japanese users who are now surfing at speed.