Broadband is changing family lives for the better. A recent research report by UK-based Demos (conducted for AOL UK) says that the fastest growing demographic on the Internet are women. Between 2000 and 2005, the proportion of women online rose from 39% to 63% - a significantly quicker growth rate than for their male counterparts.

Jonathan Lambeth, communications director of AOL UK, says, “As it becomes a backdrop to home life, it is the female members of the household who are exploiting the enormous opportunities.”

The report, for instance finds that that moms are using broadband to research health related issues, among other things.

John Craig, the report’s author, says “It is now women who are stitching the internet and broadband into their lives. They are not just catching up with men though, they are using it differently. The mouseproud mum is working out how to apply the internet to her life and that of her family. In that way, it has become just another domestic appliance.”

If this indeed is the case, then there is a big opportunity to develop an entire ecosystem around it. I believe as “moms” take control of the broadband pipe, you can expect the online commerce to expand.

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