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06|08|09

Rapid growth in Scotland

Ofcom's fourth Communications Market Report shows that take up of all communication services in Scotland has increased rapidly over the past year.

Some 60 per cent of homes now have a broadband connection - up 7 per cent in twelve months - and connections were highest in Aberdeen (73 per cent) and lowest in Glasgow (39 per cent). 

Rural areas also outscored urban neighbourhoods for both home broadband and mobile broadband connections.

Overall, mobile broadband was most popular in the Highlands & Islands (22 per cent of households) and least popular in the Borders at just 3 per cent.

Mobile phones

But the picture is reversed when it comes to 3G mobile phone services - with take up particularly high in Border areas at 47 per cent and lowest in the Highlands & Islands (11 per cent).

Take up of mobile phones in general increased from 81 to 86 per cent in 2008, with consumers in rural Scotland again more likely to own a mobile phone than their urban neighbours.

Pay-as-you-go mobile phones are more popular than in the UK as a whole, while of the cities we surveyed, Aberdeen came out top for VoIP usage.

VoIP - or more precisely Voice over Internet Protocol - is a technology which allows you to make phone calls over the web.

Thirty per cent of households in Aberdeen use VoIP to make telephone calls over the internet - well above the UK average of 12 per cent.

TV and radio

And last year Scottish TV viewers watched more TV than anyone else in the UK - 4.2 hours per day - and tuned into more local commercial radio than radio listeners in the other nations.

When asked which items they were likely to cut back on in a recession, 44 per cent of consumers in Scotland would choose cutting back on either going on holiday or out for dinner and 39 per cent would choose DIY.

This compares with only a 23 per cent who would cut back on their TV subscriptions, 14 per cent on broadband services and 8 per cent on their home phone.

Better deals

Vicki Nash, Ofcom’s Director in Scotland, welcomed the findings of this year’s Communications Market Report:  ' Despite the recession, people in Scotland would rather do without meals out, or even holidays, than give up their phone, broadband or pay TV package and they are also shopping around for better deals. 

 

'At the same time, take up of services like broadband and mobile phones are increasing rapidly in Scotland with rural areas leading their urban neighbours.

 

'Amongst the cities we surveyed, Aberdeen is the UK capital for VoIP and Dundee is top in the UK for bundled services, while Glasgow has the UK’s highest proportion of pay-as-you-go mobile phones.'

 

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