The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has estimated that plans by the UK government, which aims to make a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps available to everybody in the country by 2012 (i.e. Universal Service Commitment), could be worth £1.4 Billion through additional online sales alone.

The report claims that consumers with a broadband connection are 37% more likely to buy products and services online than those living in broadband not-spots, many of which are often forced to use a dated and incredibly slow dialup connection.


Of course 2008 was a long time ago now and dialup connections have continued to decline since then, which makes the IPA's estimate seem somewhat unreliable. The additional costs of getting a new broadband connection hasn't been weighted against this increase, neither has the loss of sales from high-street stores to online equivalents.