Broadband News

Digital divide between Wales and UK narrows

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Welsh consumers are helping to close the digital divide as they “embrace communications services and become increasingly tech-savvy”, Ofcom has revealed.

The gap between broadband take-up in Wales and the UK as a whole dropped from 10 percentage points to seven percentage points over the past year, said the telecoms regulator.

Almost two-thirds of Welsh consumers now have a broadband connection compared to 71% of the UK overall.

Wales also has the highest mobile broadband take-up of any nation in the UK, with 16% of people using a dongle to go online - a 5% increase since 2009.

Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report also revealed that it was rural Welsh communities that were leading the technology drive.

Almost 70% of rural consumers have broadband, compared to 62% of those living in urban areas.

The report also found that increasing numbers of Welsh people were bundling their broadband with home phone and digital TV to save money. Some 44% of people now bundle their services with the same provider, up from 35% last year.

Rhodri Williams, Ofcom director for Wales, said: “It’s good to see that the digital divide between Wales and the UK as a whole is narrowing. Communications services are rapidly becoming a necessity rather than a luxury for Welsh consumers and businesses in all parts of Wales. Even though our report indicates that there are still challenges to overcome, the direction of travel is positive.”