Digital divide across the UK is narrowing

The digital divide between UK nations is diminishing according to Ofcom research published today. In its Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK Ofcom examines availability, take-up and usage of internet, telecommunications and broadcasting services.

Key findings across the UK

• The proportion of UK households able to receive competitive broadband and phone services through local loop unbundling (LLU) increased by 27 percentage points over the year from 40% at the end of 2005 to 67% at the end 2006.


• Almost three out of ten UK households (29%) took multiple services from a single telecoms provider in 2006 (fixed line phone and broadband for example).


• Average reported monthly household spend on mobile phone services ( £42 .18 based on an average two mobile phones per household) is greater than reported spend on fixed-line and internet combined across the UK ( £31 .18).


• People in Northern Ireland watch less television than the rest of the UK (3.3 hours per day). People in Scotland watch the most of all the nations.
  


• Local commercial radio attracts a larger share of listening hours in Scotland (43%) than in any other nation ( UK average 32%).


• The report shows that ITV’s digital-only channels (ITV2, 3 and 4) have gained more viewing share (2.8 percentage points) than those of the BBC (1.3 percentage points), C4 (1.4 percentage points) and C5 (0.2 percentage points) between 2002 and 2006.

Digital communications in rural and urban Britain
Ofcom also carried out research into take-up and availability of communications services in rural and urban areas in the UK. A similar proportion of people who live in rural areas (80%) own a mobile phone compared to 81% in urban areas.

The research also showed that DAB digital radio ownership in rural households (17%) is almost equal to that in urban households (18%).