No rush to subscribe to superfast broadband, Ofcom finds
No rush to subscribe to superfast broadband, Ofcom finds
Just over two in 10 businesses and homes are using superfast broadband, despite its wider availability, industry watchdog Ofcom’s annual infrastructure report has revealed.
It found that 4.8 million customers have subscribed to broadband services offering speeds of 3Mbps or above, even though 75 per cent of people can now do so. The proportion increased from last year's 10 per cent to 22 per cent, but analysts believe the higher costs of superfast networks has put off more customers from making the change.
"The usual factors we encounter from consumers are resistance to any increase in price, and the £10 to £20 premium for faster services can deter many, particularly if paying under £10 for their broadband service now," Andrew Ferguson of ThinkBroadband told the BBC.
"There are also a good number who after not getting speeds close to the advertised speeds previously are wary of upgrading for little or no benefit."
The report found the number of publicly accessible wi-fi hotspots more than doubled year on year to 34,000, while the data received or sent from them saw an almost threefold increase to 2 million gigabytes every month.
The use of data was also found to have grown enormously, with the average person now using 650 million gigabytes a month. Ofcom said this is due to both the high use of on-demand TV services and because one person now generally has a number of devices to access the internet.
While urban connectivity is good, Ofcom found a less networked UK when it came to accessing the internet on the move. The report looked at roads for the first time and said motorways are well-served by mobile broadband access but fewer than four in 10 A and B roads receive signals from all four mobile networks. A total of nine per cent of roads are not covered by 3G at all.
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