The number of broadband lines has risen above expectations in the first half of this year, according to broadband specialists.

Point Topic announced today that 445,000 more lines were added this year, making the total in the UK over 17.8 million.

This beat the analyst company's initial forecast by about 100,000 and has led to it adjusting its yearly forecast to 900,000 new lines.

Point Topic predicted that there will be over 23 million broadband lines in the UK by 2013, which is 1.2 million more than its previous estimate.

However, the report points out that there are still over nine million homes without internet access and the number is only slowly decreasing, leading to the forecast that there will still be 6.5 million homes without internet access by 2013.

The Government has earmarked 12 million over three years, following the Digital Britain report, to help get people online but Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic, doesn't think this is enough.

Johnson said in a statement: "Allowing only twelve million to get more homes online looks pretty weak when you consider the size of the task on one side and the potential benefits on the other."

"We think it's going to be easier to build networks than to change people's minds."