UK broadband take-up has fallen below three million for the first time in three years, says research. 

The number of new connections for the 12 months to March 2007 were only 2,995,000, the lowest since 2004, says telecoms consultancy Enders Analysis.

'Growth is still strong, but there is clear evidence that market growth is slowing,'said Enders analyst Ian Watt.

'By the end of the year, those huge numbers of net additions we have seen previously will start to become a thing of the past,' he said.

Broadband Britain's slow start was offset by a sharp upturn in subscribers in 2004 as market competition pushed down prices. By the beginning of 2006 almost half of households had high speed internet access, up from 15 per cent at the start of 2004.

But over the last 12 months, growth has slowed significantly, though there are still around 4.8 million UK households with PCs but without broadband.

The slowdown in the growth rate could lead to consolidation in the market which has about 100 companies at the moment, many of them smaller operators, says Enders.