Broadband Genie reports on Ofcom’s International Communications Market results

Dec. 14, 2007 - PRLog -- Telecoms regulator Ofcom has released results from its latest International Communications Market report. The publication, which analysed trends in the £873bn global television, radio and telecommunications sectors in 2006 confirmed recent discussions that broadband uptake is on the rise in the UK. It found that more than half of all British households possessed a broadband connection at the end of last year.
Bundled services were found to be more cost-effective than buying each service separately in all of the countries surveyed. In the UK, around 40% of households have already taken advantage of a bundled service. The report found that a typical family household in the UK with two parents and two children, who use a basket of communications services that includes a landline, basic pay-TV and the internet, will pay £25 a month on a triple-pay deal; “This compares with £27.22 in France and £39.77 in Germany. The same family in the US will pay £69.54,” stated Ofcom.
In the Telecoms sector, the International Communications Market report found the following trends:
High-speed broadband is becoming increasingly popular in many of the countries surveyed although the level of availability varies significantly from country to country. Japan, is the clear leader among the countries analysed with around 30 per cent of broadband connections being delivered via fibre. In the UK, Virgin Media has announced that it is to upgrade the majority of its cable network to deliver speeds of 50 Mbit/s.
Broadband is the fastest growing communications sector accounting for 9 per cent of total telecoms revenue across the 12 countries in 2006. The total number of broadband connections increased by more than 600 per cent between 2001 and 2006. This growth has been driven mainly by DSL broadband which is now the largest broadband platform in all the countries analysed except the US and Canada.
Consumer research commissioned for this report shows that in most countries, apart from Japan, the majority of consumers are satisfied with the speed of their broadband connection. Consumers are most satisfied in the US, at 85 per cent. 68 per cent of UK broadband were satisfied with their broadband speed, while satisfaction was lowest in Japan, at 41per cent.
The report also asked consumers for the ‘advertised’ or ‘headline’ speed of their home connection and what they thought the actual speed of their connection was. The biggest gaps in perceived headline and actual speeds were in the UK and Japan where a quarter of respondents claimed to receive a service that was less than the advertised speed of 8Mbit/s or higher.
3G mobile services are becoming more widespread. By the end of 2006, over 50 per cent of mobiles in Japan were 3G and over 10 per cent of mobiles in Italy, Sweden and the UK. In Canada and Poland the total was just one per cent of all mobiles.
Telecoms service revenues per head increased by 20 per cent from £288m in 2001 to £345m in 2006 across the countries surveyed.
Ciaron Dunne from Broadband Dunne explains: “The International Communications Market report is important in proving that the broadband sector is playing a key role in the development of digital communications. Ofcom play a vital part in protecting consumers in the telecoms, TV, Radio and Spectrum industries. Reports like these invaluable in giving Ofcom a better understanding of the industry as a whole. In turn it can help them improve service to UK customers.”
Notes to editors

Broadband Genie allows users to compare broadband online, and is part of Genie Group.

Genie Group Ltd is a leading independent provider of internet comparison shopping services in the UK, and was set up in 2004 by Philip Wilkinson (co-founder of Kelkoo UK). Genie Group's unique selling point is 'the Genie', which makes personal recommendations to internet shoppers based on ground-breaking, intelligent technology. This gives Genie Group the ability to provide an enjoyable and satisfying internet shopping experience, and deliver an unmatched quality of sales leads to our affiliate merchants. Genie Group launched its flagship broadband comparison service Broadband Genie in January 2005.

More information can be found at http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk . Please direct all media enquiries to Ciaron Dunne. Interviews with Philip Wilkinson can be arranged on request.

Website: www.broadbandgenie.co.uk