The sharp rise in the number of people using online video services could result in an increase in the price of broadband services.

Such is the assertion of Andrew Ferguson, editor of consumer advice service thinkbroadband.com, who has said that users may have to accept such a price increase as internet service providers (ISPs) struggle to meet the costs of providing high-bandwidth video content.

"We, the general public, may have to accept that if our broadband connections are becoming our main entertainment medium at home then we may need to pay more to use it this way," Mr Ferguson explained.

He also expressed criticism of the way in which some ISPs advertise their services, asserting that unclear promotion of products would have to stop in the future.

Some ISPs who advertise their products offering unlimited usage allowances in fact place restrictions on the amount of data that can be received once a certain monthly quota has been exceeded, he argued.

For some customers, that restriction could come into effect after downloading as little as 2GB of data, he claimed.

Mr Ferguson's comments follow a call from Tiscali for the BBC to start supporting ISPs in meeting the costs associated with delivering online video content.