Fast Facts

Statistics and facts on the communications industry taken from Ofcom research publications.

Listed below you will find key data relating to the take-up and use of internet services, landline and mobile, post, television and radio

Internet statistics

Internet	2015	2016	Source	*
Average time spent per month browsing online on PCs or laptops	N/A - due to methodological changes between 2015 and 2016 data is not comparable	30 hours 42 minutes (March 2016)	CMR	A
Number of UK fixed residential & SME broadband lines	23.7 million (end 2014)	24.7 million (end 2015)	CMR	A
Proportion of adults with broadband in the UK (fixed & mobile)	80% (Q1 2015)	81% (Q1 2016)	Tech Tracker	H
Market shares of fixed broadband providers in the UK	BT 32% Virgin Media 20% TalkTalk 14% Sky 22% EE 4% Others 8% (End of 2014)	BT 32% Virgin Media 19% TalkTalk 13% Sky 23% EE 4% Others 8% (End of 2015)	CMR	A
Superfast fixed broadband take-up (excluding leased lines)	42% (end 2015)	N/A (no data until later this year)	Fixed BB performance report (Nov)	A
Superfast fixed broadband lines	7.1million (end of 2014)	9.2 million (end of 2015)	ISPs	Q
Average UK broadband speed	28.9Mbit/s (Nov 2015)	N/A (no data until later this year)	Fixed BB performance report (Nov)	A
Proportion of online adults who use social networking sites	72% (2014)	73% (2015)	Media Literacy Tracker	H
Proportion of people who use their mobile handset to access the internet	61% (Q1 2015)	66% (Q1 2016)	Tech Tracker	H

TV statistics

TV	2015	2016	Source	*
Proportion of UK homes with a working TV (source: BARB Establishment Survey)	93% (Q4 2014)	95% (Q4 2015) (Note: there was a methodology change in Q4 2015)	BARB	Q
Number of minutes of TV people aged 4+ watch each day	220 minutes/ 3 hours and 40 minutes (2014 average)	216 minutes / 3 hours and 36 minutes (2015 average)	BARB	Q

Landline/Mobile	2015	2016	Source	*
Number of UK residential fixed landlines	25.5m (end of 2014)	25.6m (end of 2015)	ISPs	Q
Number of fixed landlines in the UK (including ISDN channels)	33.2m (end of 2014)	33.2m (end of 2015)	ISPs	Q
Market shares of fixed line providers in the UK	BT 37% (end of 2014) Virgin Media 13% (end of 2014) Others 50% (end of 2014)	BT 37% (end of 2015) Virgin Media 13% (end of 2015) Others 50% (end of 2015)	CMR	A
Proportion of adults who personally own/use a mobile phone in the UK	93% (Q1 2015)	93% (Q1 2016)	Tech Tracker	H
Proportion of UK adults with a smartphone	66% (Q1 2015)	71% (Q1 2016)	Tech Tracker	H
Proportion of adults who live in a mobile-only home	15% (Q1 2015)	14% (Q1 2016)	Tech Tracker	H
Number of UK mobile subscriptions (including M2M)	89.9m (end of 2014)	91.5m (end of 2015)	MNOs	Q
Number of 4G mobile subscriptions	23.6 million (end of 2014)	39.5 million (end of 2015)	CMR	A
Average number of SMS and MMS sent per mobile handset subscription per month	115 (2014)	107 (2015)	MNOs	Q

Radio statistics

Radio	2015	2016	Source	*
Proportion of radio listeners with a DAB radio in their household	49% (Q1 2015)	55.7% (Q1 2016)	RAJAR	Q
Proportion of listener hours through a digital platform (DAB, online, DTV)	40% (Q1 2015)	44.1% (Q1 2016)	RAJAR	Q
Number of radio stations on analogue (excluding community stations)	340 (May 2015)	337 (May 2016)	CMR	A
Number of national radio stations (analogue and DAB)	25 (May 2015)	41 (May 2016)	CMR	A

Post statistics

Post	2015	2016	Source	*
Addressed letter revenue	£4.3 billion (2014)	£4.2 billion (2015)	CMR	A
Addressed letter volume	12.7 billion items (2014)	12.2 billion items (2015)	CMR	A

*Review period. A = annual; H = half-yearly; Q = quarterly.

See also...