UKlooks to satellite broadband.

BUSINESSES frustrated by the miserable pace of roll-out of broadband services in the UK will increasingly have a viable alternative in the form of satellite-based internet services.

About 110,000 British customers use broadband connections. BT's DSL phone lines represent over 65,000 of those, with cable operators NTL and Telewest, which last week unveiled a joint marketing initiative, accounting for the rest.

In contrast, Germany's Deutsche Telekom said in March it had already connected around 400,000 broadband customers, with around 850,000 DSL lines sold.