Gartner has claimed that despite the current economic climate taking hold of the UK, broadband uptake is continuing to grow at a steady rate.

According to a study released this week by the organisation, the UK placed 11th in a broadband league table judged on market penetration, with 63 per cent putting Britain ahead of the US.

However, the top three - South Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark - were well ahead, with 86 per cent, 80 per cent and 75 per cent respectively when it came to the increasing adoption of dedicated internet lines.

It is understood from the statistics that the UK will have just over three million new connections of this kind by 2013, meaning that in four years time, just under three-quarters of British households will have a broadband connection.

Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Gartner is the world's largest research consultancy agency and employs 1,200 research analysts and consultants across 80 countries.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.