Broadband connections exceeded dial-up connections for the first time in May, according to the latest monthly survey of ISPs by the Office for National Statistics.

Broadband connections accounted for 50.7% of all connections, up from 49.2% in April 2005.

In January 2001, when the measurement began, broadband formed less than one per cent of all connections.

Dial-up connections have been in decline since their peak in February 2002. The index of all connections showed that between May 2004 and May 2005 there was a 5.1% increase in the number of active subscriptions to the internet.

The index increased by 0.1% to 145.4 between April and May 2005. In May 2005, the indexes of active subscriptions for dial-up and broadband were 72.2 and 95.47 respectively, when compared to their base of 100 in January 2001.

Dial-up connections continued to decrease, with a year-on-year fall to May 2005 of 26%. The monthly decrease, from April to May 2005, was 2.8%.

Broadband connections continued to increase market share and made up 50.7% of all subscriptions in May 2005, up from 49.2% in April 2005. There was a year on year increase of 77.7%, with a monthly increase of 3.3% in May 2005.

Until April 2005, dial-up connections formed the majority of connections to the internet. However, the index of dial-up connections has been declining since it peaked at 114.3 in February 2002.

The market share of broadband connections has been increasing, reflecting its growing popularity and availability.

Richard Keyms, operations director at ISP Intellispace, said: "It's no surprise that broadband has eclipsed dial-up as broadband prices continue to drop as a result of increased competition.

'Small businesses are increasingly depending on services that only broadband can support.'