The latest poll from PlusNet has revealed that 92% of Brits would not give up their broadband connection, despite the financial squeeze. Furthermore, 30% would rather give up their magazine subscriptions, cigarettes and alcohol than broadband, 14% would sacrifice eating out or takeaway meals and 12% going to the cinema.

However, 34% are ready to look for a cheaper provider if the "credit crunch" continues, though 58% would prefer to stay with their existing ISP. Clearly broadband continues to be considered a vital service:


Indeed, far from cutting back on their internet use, people are turning to it to beat the downturn with 59% logging on to price comparison websites, 46% paying bills online to get discounts, 45% purchasing goods rather than going to the shops, 35% using online auctions and 30% reading the news on their computers rather than buying a newspaper.

Customers in the Solent area are the busiest web surfers, while the West of Scotland has the highest percentage of people sharing files such as music and films. South West London tops the list for watching and listening to streamed content and the North of Scotland has the highest percentage of gamers. Finally, plusnet users in the City of London were the busiest emailers.

Recent figures from PlusNet also revealed that web browsing is the most popular online activity (63.3%), followed by file-sharing (16.8%), gaming (4.73%), streaming (4.26%) and email (2%).