Increased competition among broadband providers in the United Kingdom has sped up the adoption of high-speed service, a recent report by research firm eMarketer concludes. In just one year, the
proportion of home users connecting via high-speed lines jumped from 46 percent to 73 percent, according to the report, which cited Nielsen//NetRatings data. The main reason, wrote eMarketer Senior
Analyst James Belcher, was that British Telecom's copper network was opened to other competitors. "Allowing third-party firms wholesale-priced access to this network, for the purpose of serving local
customers, has accelerated the rate at which customers may be switched from dial-up," wrote Belcher.