UK consumers taking to triple play

[BGonaSTICK]

Ongoing consolidation in the UK communications sector has given way to an increase in the number of consumers taking up double or triple play products. By the fourth quarter of 2005 35 per cent of UK households were taking at least two services from a single provider, compared to 29 per cent at the end of March the same year.

According to the latest International Communications Market report released by UK communications regulator Ofcom this week, broadband is one of the driving forces behind triple play adoption.

Take up of broadband is now higher in the UK, with around 39 per cent of households adopting high speed internet, than in the US where 38 per cent of households have broadband. France also has 38 per cent penetration followed by Germany with 28 per cent.

But the Netherlands leads the pack with 58 per cent penetration, followed by Japan with 44 per cent and Sweden with 45 per cent.

Ofcom's study compares UK data, consumer attitudes and industry performance against that of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United States.

There was good news for UK consumers, with the data suggesting that UK households which make extensive use of the latest communications services benefit from the greatest value. A household with two mobiles, a high level of telephone use, a premium broadband connection and a premium subscription television account would typically pay £188 per month in the UK compared with £201 in Italy and £247 in the most expensive country - the US.

The subscription money saved by UK consumers is obviously being spent elsewhere though, with UK consumers buying more music online than consumers in any of the other European countries in the report, spending more than twice as much per head of population than the French or Germans.

UK users also love their online video. Among 18-24 year old broadband users, the UK is second only to China in its enthusiasm for online video, with 77 per cent of UK users of this age group watching music videos online and 60 per cent watching TV programmes via their broadband connections.

Reflecting the ongoing consolidation in the UK between communications and media companies, increasing broadband usage spells bad news for broadcasters as broadband usage appears linked to a decline in conventional television viewing.

On average, around one third of consumers with broadband access said they watch less television since going online. Conversely, internet access appears to have a positive effect on radio listening, offsetting a decline in hours spent listening to conventional broadcast radio.

Incoming IP technologies designed to exploit the adoption of broadband, such as BT's Vision offering may take some time to get established though. UK adoption of new services such as Voice over Internet Protocol and IPTV is slower than in other countries. In France, 5.4 per cent of consumers use VoIP services and 1.6 per cent subscribe to IPTV services, compared to 0.4 per cent of UK consumers for each of these services.

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"A household with two mobiles, a high level of telephone use, a premium broadband connection and a premium subscription television account would typically pay £188 per month in the UK"

No wonder there's so much personal debt in this country...