Press & PR

Changing internet habits could result in an increase in the costs of broadband, an expert has suggested.

According to Andrew Ferguson, editor of consumer advice service thinkbroadband.com, the significant rise in the number of people who are downloading large amounts of data via video and radio services such as BBC's iPlayer or Channel 4's 4oD could mean that in the future, the increased costs of supplying such services could be passed on to consumers.

"We, the general public, may have to accept that if our broadband connections are becoming our main entertainment medium at home that we may need to pay more to use it this way," Mr Ferguson suggested.

However, he added that some internet service providers also needed to come clean on the speeds that were likely to be achieved.

Value internet packages which are advertised as allowing unlimited usage often failed to deliver, the editor said, with some companies limiting the amount of data that can be downloaded once a set allowance has been reached.

Mr Ferguson's comments follow recent assertions by Tiscali that the BBC should help to pay for the additional costs of providing high-quality programming over the internet.

Vonage allows internet users to make cheap calls using VoIP, which transmits voice data over internet connections and requires relatively low bandwidth to operate.