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Broadband connections near 15 million
(11-01-08) - UK broadband connections have passed 14,961,000 according to the latest telecommunications market data tables for the third quarter of 2007, released by Ofcom.
The telecoms regulator showed that the UK’s incumbent operator, BT (www.BT.com) further increased its share of the broadband market with 27.2 per cent at the end of June 2007, up from 25.9 per cent in Q2.
While overall small business and residential broadband connections continued to grow, those on standard DSL lines actually dropped from 5,017,000 in Q2 to 4,375,000 as yet more ADSL providers switched customers over to the far cheaper local loop unbundled (LLU) lines.
LLU continued to increase, going up from 2,432,000 lines in Q2 to 3,204,000 at the end of June 2007 - a jump of almost 800,000 connections. And more recent figures from the office of the Telecoms Adjudicator, released today show a total of 3,748,000 LLU connections.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “Although it is initially expensive for a provider to install its own equipment in the local BT exchange, the savings it will make, and the additional customers it can attract with the subsequent lower prices make LLU well worth the money.
“However, this does mean that smaller providers, who cannot afford to the £35,000 or so its costs to convert just one exchange, are slowly being pushed out by big providers like TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) and Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk) that are able to undercut competitors with offers of free broadband and free line rental.”
But LLU isn’t just about freebies, said Mr Phillips, “there can be problems and hidden costs involved in getting back onto the BT network if customers want to switch to a standard ADSL provider,” he warned. “People need to be aware that they might face a break in their connection, a cease and re-provide fee of £58.75, or could even have to pay up to £124.99 to have their BT phone line reactivated if that was unbundled too.”
Virgin Media’s (www.VirginMedia.com) broadband arm also continued to grow as the company focused on the superior network capabilities offered by cable, after admitting that it cannot compete with 2007’s fastest growing provider Sky (www.Sky.com) digital TV service.
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