Ofcom: U.K. Consumers are Early Adopters of Technology

LONDON: Consumers in the U.K. are among the earliest adopters of new communications technologies, according to new research from Ofcom.

Ofcom’s fifth International Communications Market report into the global communications market looks at takeup, availability and use of broadband, landlines, mobiles, TV and radio. Across the six countries surveyed, Ofcom found that spending on communications services remains resilient, with people less likely to cut down on communications services—and in particular broadband (6 to 7 percent)—than they are on other areas, such as nights out (39 to 56 percent) or vacations (29 to 51 percent).

The research found that British consumers are some of the best connected for broadband, mobile and digital TV, and even have the highest rate for smartphone takeup.

The U.K. and Spain lead the way with digital TV takeup at 91 percent, as digital switchover is implemented across the globe. While U.K. consumers are ahead of the rest of the world in takeup of HD-ready TV sets—59 percent of U.K. households, ahead of the U.S. with 57 percent—take-up of HDTV services is lower in the U.K. than in other countries, where takeup tends to be linked to the amount of HDTV channels available.

In the U.S., 44 percent of households have HDTV services with access to 404 HD channels, followed by Japan (43 percent of households and 130 channels), France (42 percent and 55 channels) and then the U.K. (13 percent and 50 channels).

Overall, U.K. TV viewers watched more TV than the average 207 minutes per day, watching 225 minutes. U.S. TV viewers watched more TV than in any other country with 280 minutes per day, followed by Polish TV viewers with 240 minutes and Italians with 238 minutes.

The U.K. had the second highest number of homes with pay TV DVRs at the end of 2009, with 7.8 million devices, up by 40 percent on 2008. The U.S. had the highest number of homes with DVR subscriptions, with 34.7 million at the end of 2009, up by more than a quarter (26 percent) year on year.

Ofcom’s consumer research also found that the U.K. has more consumers watching TV on the Internet, with just under a quarter (24 percent) of consumers claiming to do this every week. This rose to 45 percent when asked whether they had ever accessed TV content on the Internet. Consumers in the U.S. were the second most likely to watch TV on the Internet, with a fifth (22 percent) using the Internet to watch TV on a weekly basis.