Some 43 percent of adults who currently do not have Internet access would remain disconnected even if they were given a free PC and broadband connection, U.K. regulator Ofcom says.
That's an important finding as it reinforces an important fact about broadband adoption: in some cases "access" might be an issue. But it is not the only issue, and might not even be the most-important issue.
If people don't want broadband, building more access facilities will not do anything to increase uptake.
The confusion is widespread. Many seem to assume there is a "broadband problem" in the United States because lots of people do not buy it. That's a bit like assuming there is a "Lexus" problem because more people do not buy them.
Product demand, not product supply, rapidly is becoming the main barrier to further gains in broadband use.
About 30 percent of U.K. residents do not use the Internet, Ofcom's survey found. About 20 percent of people without Internet access say they will start buying some form of Internet access within the next six months.
Some 42 percent of adults said that they had "no interest" or "no need" for the Internet. About 61 percent of such non-users are older or retired, and 61 percent say they never have used a computer.
For 30 percent of those currently offline the main reasons given for that choice was financial or lack of skills.
Some have proposed that subsidizing PCs and dropping prices, plus building more networks or adding more connections, would solve the "broadband" problem.
Ofcom says that may not be true.
When asked what would change their minds about going online, only nine percent said cheaper deals would be an incentive. Free training was identified by 11 percent as a behavior changer.
But the majority (58 percent) simply said they were "not interested" in having broadband or "don't know" what would entice them to buy it.
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