One in five, some 422 million, households worldwide will have a fixed broadband connection in the home by the end of 2009, according to market analyst Gartner.

This is up from 382 million households in 2008, and the market will steadily grow with nearly 580 million households having a fixed broadband connection by 2013, the firm said in a report.

The UK is expected to slip from 11th most connected country today to 12th by then, it said (see table). However, BT said last week its fixed wire broadband network could reach up to 75% of homes by 2011, if consumers demanded it.

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