Communications and Technology Industry Research

Ofcom, which independently regulates and maintains competition authority over United Kingdom’s  communications industries, recently released a report examining various market segments—both in the U.K. and elsewhere.

 

The report provides an inclusive look a global television, radio, telecom, and wireless communications industries, with comparisons of markets in the U.K., China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S.

 

One of the most significant findings of the report is that, despite overall global growth in users of broadband Internet services, in the U.K. adoption of IP-based services like VoIP and IPTV (News - Alert) has been slower than in other countries.

 

More specifically, 5.4 percent of French consumers use VoIP, and 1.6 percent subscribe to IPTV, compared with 0.4 percent of U.K. consumers for each of the services.

 

This being a quantitative rather than qualitative report, Ofcom does not speculate on reasons for the slow uptake of VoIP and IPTV among U.K. consumers. But other data in the report does shed light on how the increased availability of converged communications services are changing how citizens of the U.K. work and play.

 

For example, the report found that in every country surveyed—including the U.K.—usage of broadband Internet is directly tied to a decline in TV viewing. At the same time, Internet access appears to have a positive effect on radio listening.

 

In fact, Ofcom said in it announcement about the report that “Radio is more popular in the UK than in any other country surveyed; UK average weekly listening per person is just under 23 hours.”

 

U.K. is second only to Sweden when it comes to people listening to publicly-funded radio stations, such as BBC. (Fifty-five percent of total radio listening hours in the U.K. are gobbled up by publicly funded programming.)

 

The U.K. also comes in second place, behind China, in its enthusiasm for online video. Of 18-24 year old users surveyed in the U.K., 77 percent indicated they watch music videos online using a broadband connection (compared to 87 percent in China) and 60 percent said they watch TV shows using a broadband connection (compared to 82 percent in China).

 

While they are online, U.K. users are busy buying more music than consumers in any of the other European countries canvassed. They also spend more than twice as much online for music per head than French or Germans.

 

Online advertising is also doing well in the U.K. In that country, 10 percent of all ad spending is devoted to online campaigns, a higher proportion than any other country in the report.

 

Ofcom found that the U.K. came out on top in some areas of the converged communications industry, and fell behind in others, as summarized in the table below

 

 

Ofocom’s report also noted that “Ongoing consolidation in the UK communications sector has led to an increase in the number of consumers taking double- or triple-play products (typically fixed-line phone, broadband and subscription television) from the same company.”

 

Data from September, 2005 shows that 35 percent of U.K. households were subscribing to at least two services from a single provider, up from 29 percent in March of that year.

 

In a statement about the report, Ofcom CEO Ed Richards summed up the global communications industry in this way: “Rapidly converging technologies and intense competition between providers are transforming the global communications sector.”

 

Richards added: “As the UK market evolves, delivering greater innovation, choice and value for consumers, it becomes increasingly important to consider its future in the context of these emerging global trends.”