Ofcom, the communications regulator, presenting its annual review of the communications market, said that the number of broadband connections reached 8.1 million last month, compared with 7.5 million dial-up links.

It has taken just four years for broadband to become a mass-market product and its adoption has been far more rapid than the 30 years that it took for television to become ubiquitous. Ed Richards, a senior partner at the regulator, said that the milestone reflected the emergence of “a digital mass market” because it made possible new mass consumer products, such as delivering television down phone lines.

“BT and companies like Video Networks are beginning to gear up for a range of new products. It’s no longer a case of basic broadband: this is an area of rapid potential development,” Mr Richards said.

Ofcom’s consumer research shows that broadband users are far more likely to download music, listen to radio, play network computer games or watch television online with a fast connection. The proportion watching video clips on broadband was 36 per cent, compared with 9 per cent of dial-up surfers.

Apart from broadband, the Ofcom figures showed how fast Britons are embracing digital technologies. Every month 250,000 people are switching to digital television. In all, 62 per cent of households are hooked up to one form of digital television.

Last year, mobile telecom revenues, at £12.3 billion, surpassed those of fixed lines (£10.5 billion) for the first time, while the weekly spend on communications is now £19.78 compared with £14.45 in 2000, having risen nearly 4 per cent a year.

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