The chief executive of BT has said that people now look at broadband access as a "vital" service rather than a luxury.
Britons now consider broadband internet a necessary utility as opposed to an extravagance, it has been claimed.
BT chief executive Ian Livingston told the Financial Times about how he expects the telecoms industry is likely to shape up in 2009. The country is widely expected to experience negative growth, although how much and for how long is the subject of debate.
But Mr Livingston said that while telecoms was "not immune from recession", it did have "some defensive qualities". He explained: "In the telecoms sector, broadband has long since ceased to be a luxury, it is now a vital part of the way millions of people communicate with each other, the way they shop and the way they are entertained."
This reliance was showcased on Christmas Day, a study by internet service provider Plusnet showed. According to its results, more people used the internet than watched the Queen's annual speech.
It found that people started logging on to social networking site Facebook between 14:00 and 15:00, the hour before the speech was broadcast. By 17:00, the number of people using it had grown by a quarter - although Google was actually the most popular site.
"The study is a good illustration of how the web is changing the face of the traditional Christmas as more people go online for their fun, information and entertainment," said Neil Armstrong, Plusnet's products director.
