In the UK, more country folk are on the internet than town dwellers, more than 99 per cent of premises are connected to broadband-enabled exchanges (there's a 'but' though) and mobile phone users send more text messages than they make phone calls. Those are some of the findings of research published this week by the comms regular Ofcom.
Ofcom's Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK - available here - looks at what we've been up to on the internet and on the phone and also details some of our TV-viewing habits and radio-listening preferences, comparing findings across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the nine English regions.
Other interesting findings are:
* Wales and the North West of England have the highest take-up of digital terrestrial television - both 72 per cent - while Northern Ireland (53 per cent) and London (59 per cent) have the lowest (can we presume that Londoners and those in Northern Ireland have better analogue reception or are just more turned on by Sky?)
* Londoners spend the most on communications services - though the smallest proportion by disposable income (Cockneys being shafted by their telecos and ISPs cos they earn bigger wedges?)
* Although 99.9 per cent of premises in the UK are connected to broadband-enabled exchanges, not all are able to have fast internet connections, largely because they're too far from their exchanges (bad news for those out in the sticks!). Londoners have it easiest - around 97 per cent of households are within 5km of an enabled exchange, whereas the UK average is 86 per cent and for Northern Ireland just 74 per cent
* City dwellers generally - and Londoners in particular - are most likely to be the first to enjoy the benefits of local loop unbundling - where companies can put their own switch gear in BT exchanges. Around 95 per cent of London homes and businesses are connected to LLU-enabled exchanges (is that because BT can more easily and cheaply carry out the work in London when trying to get closer to the targets it has been set? Or just London favouritism?).
* Folk living in Scotland, Yorkshire and The Humber have fewer landlines than the UK average and tend to rely on mobiles more than most of us (but are the less well off people living in these areas actually spending more on comms than they would do if they had landlines?)
Check out the full report then let us know your thoughts in the HEXUS.community.
