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26|04|06

Ofcom publishes research on communications in the Nations and Regions of the UK

Ofcom today publishes its Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK. Under Sections 2 and 3 of the Communications Act, 2003, Ofcom has a duty to secure a wide range of services to people living in the different parts of the UK.

The report, which forms part of Ofcom’s ongoing Communications Market research programme, examines availability, take-up and usage of internet, telecommunications and broadcasting services. It compares findings across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the nine English Regions.

The research shows that Londoners spend the most on communications services. However, as a proportion of disposable income, London has one of the lowest spending levels and Northern Ireland and Wales are among the highest.

The report shows that availability, take-up and consumption of communications services are generally determined by social background and rural or urban differences. Satisfaction with electronic communications services is generally high across the different parts of the UK. However, the research reveals a number of areas where national or regional differences seem to affect availability, take-up and consumption.

KEY FINDINGS ACROSS THE UK

INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

• Internet take-up (dial-up and broadband combined) in rural areas across the UK is higher than in urban areas. Urban areas have embraced broadband more quickly although rural areas are catching up.
• Levels of PC ownership, internet and broadband take-up (among internet households) in the Nations and Regions can vary by as much as 18 percentage points.
• BT data shows that 99.9% of premises in the UK are connected to a broadband enabled exchange. However, not all premises within these exchange areas are suitable for delivery of broadband services, particularly at higher speeds, due to local factors such as distance from the exchange.
• Approximately 97% of households in London are within 5km of the exchange. The figure for Northern Ireland is 74% and the UK average is 86%. Some 17% of UK households are within 2km of an exchange.
• Rollout of local loop unbundling (LLU) is occurring in urban areas first. UK wide, 44% of households and businesses are connected to an LLU-enabled exchange. Some 95% of London households and businesses are connected to an LLU-enabled exchange. The North West (63%) and both East and West Midlands (both at 49%) are next highest.
• Take-up of landlines in Scotland and Yorkshire and The Humber is lower than the UK average of 91%. In these areas, consumers rely more on mobile phones only for their calls.
• Across the UK, the number of texts sent exceeds the number of calls from mobile phones made per week, with people in Northern Ireland and the East Midlands sending the most texts. London is the only part of the UK where the number of mobile phone calls exceed texts.

BROADCASTING

• Wales and the North West of England have the highest take-up of digital television, both at 72%. London and Northern Ireland have the lowest levels of digital television take-up at 58% and 53% respectively.
• There are clear geographic differences in television viewing habits - people with digital TV in Scotland and the North East watch the most television in the UK (both at 28 hours per week) whereas those in London and Northern Ireland watch the least (at 23 hours per week).
• Programmes with a local flavour attract larger audiences in some parts of the UK – for example, Midsomer Murders in the West of England, Doc Martin in the South West of England, Heartbeat and Emmerdale in Yorkshire, Hogmanay Live in Scotland, Wales on Saturday in Wales, EastEnders in London and Coronation Street in the North West.
• Radio listening also varies geographically with the number of weekly hours spent listening to the radio highest in the South of England (at 26 hours per week) and lowest in the North East, Scotland and Wales (at 22, 23 and 23 hours respectively).

KEY FINDINGS IN THE NATIONS AND REGIONS

WALES

• Digital television has been widely adopted in Wales with higher than UK average take-up (72% compared with a 65% UK average). This is largely driven by higher satellite take-up.
• Despite the availability of a variety of sports programming on free-to-air television services, sport did not feature in the top ten programmes viewed across the UK in 2005. In Wales, however, four out of the top ten programmes were primarily rugby related.
• People in Wales rely more on mobile phones as their only means of making and receiving phone calls (13% compared with an 8% UK average). Mobile phone consumers in Wales are also more likely to use pre-pay mobile phones than the UK as a whole.

SCOTLAND

• A higher proportion (22%) of people in Scotland live within 2km of a broadband enabled exchange than the UK average (17%) and are therefore more likely to receive higher speed broadband services.
• The research indicates that people in Scotland rely more on mobile phones as the only means of making and receiving phone calls (11% compared with an 8% UK average).
• People in Scotland watch the most digital television in the UK at 22 hours per week.

NORTHERN IRELAND

• People in Northern Ireland send the most texts per week – 37 texts against a UK average of 28 texts – and listen to more hours of radio than the UK average.
• People in Northern Ireland rely more on mobile phones as the only means of making and receiving phone calls (12% compared with an 8% UK average).
• In Northern Ireland, with a high rural population, more people live further than 5km from a broadband enabled exchange than the UK average and are therefore less likely to receive higher speed broadband services (26% compared with a 14% UK average).

THE ENGLISH REGIONS

• The North West has the second highest percentage (63%) of households and businesses connected to a local loop unbundled telephone exchange in the UK, second only to London (95%).
• Digital terrestrial television availability is highest in the North West (94%) compared to a UK average of 73%.
• People in Yorkshire and The Humber rely more on mobile phones as the only means of making and receiving phone calls (16% compared with an 8% UK average).

Ofcom Chief Operating Officer Ed Richards said: “This is the first time that robust comparative data for the Nations and the English Regions has been brought together in this way. The analysis highlights a series of important challenges that will face industry, Ofcom and various tiers of government in the future.”

Ofcom is today also publishing supplementary reports for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the English Regions. The full text of all reports can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/nations/

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