Ofcom: Britons Spending More Time on Communications Services

LONDON, August 14: New
research from Ofcom indicates that people in the U.K. spent an average of 7
hours and 9 minutes per day on communications devices in 2007, including TV,
the Internet and mobile, a 6-minute gain on 2002.

Mobile and Internet use
showed the biggest gains; time spent on PCs and laptops has grown from 6
minutes to 24 minutes per person every day.

While usage is up,
consumers are spending less—overall average household spend on
communications services was £93.63 a month in 2007, a fall of 1.6 percent on
2006 and a fall of 4.4 percent since 2004. This is attributed to consumers
receiving discounts after bundling services, the lower prices for broadband and
the increase in consumers seeking out competitive prices.

The time spent watching TV
has been relatively flat—216 minutes per day in 2006, rising to 218
minutes last year. However, the proportion of people with an Internet
connection who are watching TV online more than doubled from 8 to 17 percent in
the year. Some 32 percent watched video clips and webcasts in 2007, compared to
21 percent in 2006. At the end of 2007, nearly 6 million households (23
percent) had a DVR, up by 53 percent in a year.

On the TV front, 87.2
percent of homes had digital TV by July of this year. Over half (57 percent) of
viewing in homes with digital television was of the five main public service
broadcaster channels, down slightly from 58 percent in 2006.

—By Mansha Daswani