Ofcom on message?

A recent study by Ofcom revealed that around 30% of people in the UK don’t have an internet connection at the moment. The same survey also highlights that 43% of these people would stay offline if they were offered a free computer and broadband. Main reasons for not having internet at home was a lack of interest or need. These results seem to indicate that a lot of work is still to be done to engage this group and highlight the benefits the internet can bring both to their lives and work.

According to the much awaited Digital Britain report which will be published today (lots of buzz around this on Twitter), everyone in Britain could be guaranteed broadband access by 2012 at speeds of 2Mb per second. Ofcom’s report reveals that average broadband speeds across the UK are currently around 3.6Mb. While these sorts of speeds are adequate for general browsing and online shopping, activities like downloading music, online gaming and streaming video, making the most of services like BBC iPlayer, will prove to be a challenge for most. Add to this, currently, rural connections are not good enough for even basic surfing most of the time, in some cases connection is even non-existent.

So what else needs to be done to make Britain truly digital? As with any service, maybe there is scope to target broadband offers more specifically to certain target groups, making the internet experience relevant to where you are, who you are and what you’re trying to do online.

For example with the iPhone fever taking over the globe, Nationwide Insurance recently launched a new advertising campaign promoting how customers could utilise their iPhone in the event of an accident, highlighting the various features such as GPS and camera.

Therefore a campaign showing how David Jones, 73, uses the internet to stay in touch with his family in Australia would surely be much more effective than terms such as fibre, 50Mbps and social networks.