London, UK–DTV and broadband services continue their strong growth in the United Kingdom, according to new data from Ofcom, Britain’s Office of Communication.
Key developments in the UK digital television market include:
By 31 March 2004, DTV penetration was estimated to have increased to 53 percent of UK households, up from 50 percent from the previous quarter. This represents an increase of 2.8 percent, with an additional 710,000 households adopting digital television during the quarter, bringing the total number of households to more than 13 million.
Sky’s UK subscriber base continued to grow, adding 66,000 subscribers to its pay-TV service over the quarter to bring the total number to almost seven million.
Freeview (digital terrestrial television) uptake has increased by 18.6 percent on the previous quarter, with household numbers estimated to have grown to around 3.5 million.
The total number of subscribers to cable television (both digital and analogue) is estimated to have increased slightly during the quarter to around 3.3 million, of which digital cable now accounts for around 2.4 million.
Ofcom’s market research also shows developments in the broadband market:
At the end of April 2004, the UK had reached almost four million broadband users, with over 40,000 new connections each week.
The decline in the use of “narrowband” services has continued as consumers upgrade to broadband. 67 percent of adults connect to the Internet at home using dial-up, down from 73 percent in November 2003.
53 percent of UK adults now have internet access at home, up from 50 percent in November 2003. 25 percent of these adults now connect to the Internet using broadband.
