Increasing numbers of Brits are likely to be able to take advantage of increased broadband speeds.
New data from market regulator and competition authority Ofcom indicates the typical consumer enjoys internet speeds around 22 per cent faster than they had access to this time last year.
The average broadband connection stood at 7.6 MB per second in November 2011, compared with 6.2 MB per second for the same period in 2010.
This also represents an increase on the equivalent figure six months earlier for May 2011, which was 6.8 MB per second.
Despite this, almost half of the nation's web users are thought to have access to a superior connection if they looked into a price comparison and found a better deal.
Ofcom encourages this activity, as it is this that is thought to be driving an upward trend and giving providers greater incentive to increase the quality, speed and value of their offerings.
November 2011 was the first time over half of the population - in this instance 58 per cent - had access to an advertised connection that is higher than 10 MB per second.
This is a significant increase on the same figure for May 2011, which was approximately 48 per cent of UK households.
"We can look forward to further increases in UK broadband speeds over the next few years," commented chief executive of Ofcom Ed Richards.
"Most households in the UK can now access superfast broadband services and these services are set to get faster still," the expert added, noting many network carriers aim to double the speed of their packages, with BT advertising fibre-to-the-cabinet at 80 MB per second.
Improved network services could be released to certain cities before others, as culture secretary Jeremy Hunt recently announced 14 locations in the UK are eligible to bid for super-connected status, with London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff - the four capitals - guaranteed to receive the relevant upgrades.
Posted by John Davies