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Broadband only good for porn

That's some relief

The sex industry has emerged as the leading sector to develop services for broadband, according to research published by Cambridge-based outfit Analysys.

In its report Interactive Consumer Broadband: Sex, Sport and Shopping the report's authors claim that aside from paying for hi-speed Net access, punters also splash out on adult entertainment.

Consumers are also paying for Video on Demand (VOD) and game playing activities but only in very small numbers.

"Er...and that's it...so far," claims the report, suggesting that more services and applications need to be developed to entice residential users to move to broadband.

It adds: "At present, truly interactive, truly broadband services are fairly few in numbers. Tomorrow's services might not be the ones that service providers have been promising."

In particular, Analysys casts doubt on whether VOD - which has long been regarded as the killer app for broadband - will succeed.

"The experience of VOD...has so far been disappointing. Roll-out of services has been very limited in Europe and North America - most services in effect are trials - but more extensive in Singapore and South Korea, markets with higher broadband penetration," the report says.

And Analysys believes there are question marks hanging over the viability of VOD with the emergence of new technologies.

Broadband porn, on the other hand, is a different matter and is estimated to be worth $3 billion by 2003.

"The pornography industry has been at the forefront of broadband service development," the report says. ®

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