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Five per cent of the UK population - some 1.5 million UK households - will be watching TV over an internet connection (IPTV) by 2011, according to a new study by the Centre for Telecoms Research (CTR).

With more people moving to faster broadband connections and the release of IPTV set top boxes, CTR expects the number of people to jump significantly from the 80,000 users in 2006.

"IPTV is set to become a mass market proposition over the next five years. The recent launches of IPTV products by BT and Tiscali are testament to the fact that ISPs will now put their full force behind marketing these services," said Raj Modi, CTR research director, in a statement.

The report also predicted 85 per cent of UK households would have a personal computer by 2011. There will be 20 million UK broadband connections, with 90 per cent reaching speeds above 2Mb - up significantly from the 33 per cent with such speeds in 2006.