One in 32 online (an estimated 258,000) UK households have a broadband connection at present, up from a figure of 1.6% in November 2000. The level compares miserably with world leader Korea, where more than one in two (57.3%) have this connection, and the second-ranked US, where one in nine have it (11.1%). In France, one in 16 online households are thought to have a connection, representing twice the UK rate. Although only 5% of Internet households in Germany are using a broadband connection, Germany leads the other countries included in the report for ISDN usage. In February 2001, 37.8% of German Internet households connected via ISDN, followed by Denmark with 19.5% of households.

Specific user groups have also emerged in the research. The data shows "early adopters" of broadband are active, especially among the 14 and under age group. These account for 9.1% of users connecting via broadband overall, as well as 6.7% of all modem usage.

Looking at global audio-video usage, the findings show that broadband allows Internet users better access to richer online material. With more than half of Korean households (57.3%) connecting via broadband, 73.9% of the Korean population used audio or video in February, and over half (54.1%) used a gaming protocol. Over a third of Internet users in Hong Kong used audio/video and Spain had the highest audio/video usage in Europe (33.8%). In contrast, only 29.5 % of US Internet users and 23.8 % of UK Internet users viewed or used audio. Broadband and audio/video trends emerging in Korea are good indicators of what the future may hold for Europe and the US.