| NOTAS: | Ofcom today published its Digital Progress Report on the broadband market. The report looks at levels of take-up, usage and the types of services available in the broadband market. In the seven years since its mass market introduction, broadband has become one of the fastest growing communications technologies. The report shows that over 50% of UK adults now have broadband at home - up from 39% a year ago and a seven-fold increase over the last four years. More than 13 million UK homes and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now connected to broadband, compared with 9.9 million a year earlier and 330,000 in 2001. Many new internet users are choosing to go straight to broadband rather than first taking dial-up. According to Ofcom's research, 23% of people with no internet at home said they were likely to connect in the next year with 76% of those saying they would opt for broadband. The report also shows that broadband prices are continuing to fall. Speeds of up to 2 Mbit/s were available for 15 a month in 2006, down from 50 in 2003. In 2006 a number of communications providers started offering a broadband service at no extra cost to consumers who took other services in a bundle. Bundling is an important factor for consumers when choosing an internet service provider (ISP). At the end of 2006, over 40% of all adults with broadband at home took broadband alongside other communications services from the same provider. When asked what the most important factor influencing ISP choice was, the same proportion of broadband users cited the possibility of bundling with other services (27%) as did price (27%). |
