Group items tagged

Domestic internet use also rose. According to the ONS, 77% of households now have access to a net connection.

Older users, who the government is particularly keen to get connected, appeared to have been relatively untouched by the phenomenon.

While 71% of 16 to 24-year-old who went online said they used mobile broadband, just 8% of internet users aged over 65 made use of the newer technology.

The ONS survey also found a dramatic rise in the use of wifi hotspots - a seven-fold increase since 2011 - suggesting that the rise of 3G has done little to slow demand for free and paid-for wireless access.

All findings were based on a monthly survey of 1,800 randomly selected adults from across the UK.

Wikipedia has encountered particular difficulties with censorship in the past in China. The Chinese government periodically blocked the site between 2004 and 2008, when restrictions were lifted to coincide with the Olympics.

What really excites Mr Wales is the idea of many people in the developing world using the internet for the first time.

"Massive numbers of people are going to come online from cultures we don't normally interact with."

This could have huge implications for governments which are unused to dealing with a well informed networked public. However, Mr Wales acknowledged one potential pitfall of all the extra users blogging and adding other material.