Dial-up modems bleeding the UK dry

That represents 37 million minutes of costly local calls as businesses are forced to download emails and web pages with a dial-up modem, according to research from broadband service provider OnCue.

OnCue estimates that the average internet-ready employee visits 477 pages a week, waiting 56 minutes for them to download. The telephone connection time costs £1m, while the other £9.1m comes from the salaries from lost work.

Surveys have repeatedly found that the UK has the least advanced broadband network in Europe. BT has been widely attacked for obstructing the rollout of DSL technology in a bid to protect its own dominant market position.