Non-BSG reports

Ultrafast broadband reaches more of the UK

The recent update to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report – which provides information on coverage and service availability for both internet and mobile phones – reveals that ultrafast broadband speeds (defined as download speeds over 300Mbit/s) are now available to properties in just over half the country. Superfast speeds of at least 30Mbit/s have reached 95% of UK premises and full-fibre broadband has risen a percentage point to 7% coverage, or 300,000 additions in the four months since the last report.

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Children and media: usage and attitudes

Ofcom has published a report on the media use, access, attitudes and understanding amongst children aged 3 – 15, and how parents manage this usage. The report revealed that whilst TV sets and tablets were used the most, TV viewing on a TV set is steadily declining, with consuming content becoming a more solitary activity and mobile viewing becoming increasingly popular. The reduction in TV viewing has been replaced for 3-4 year olds by spending an additional hour online, or gaming for 12-15s. (more…)

NIC asks Government for Full Fibre nationwide plan

The National Infrastructure Commission today called on Government to ensure it is on the right path to get full fibre broadband out to all homes and businesses by 2033 with a short term target of by Spring 2019 seeing the production of a nationwide full fibre connectivity plan. The National Infrastructure Assessment – the first ever of its kind – examines the UK’s economic infrastructure needs up to 2050. 

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Lloyds UK Digital Index 2018 shows reasons behind the digital divide

The third Lloyds UK Consumer Digital Index released today looks into financial and digital capability in the UK for 2018. With a focus on digital skills, financial resilience, and inclusivity the report reveals improvements for those gaining digital skills, with 470,000 more than last year with new skills. Initiatives such as those set up last year by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Digital Skills Partnership have been credited with collaborating to promote best practice through the creation of a network of over 70 cross-sector bodies.

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Ernst & Young Segment the Digital Household

Ernst and Young has published findings into consumer and household attitudes into broadband – including both connectivity and content. The research – Segmenting the Digital Household – follows on from the Bundle Jungle study published towards the end of last year. It details how differences in attitudes might affect customer preferences and behaviours, highlighting where communications providers can engage with and provide for consumer needs more effectively.

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DCMS Select Comittee reports on Brexit Implications for the Digital Single Market

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has published its report into the Potential impact of Brexit on the creative industries, tourism and the digital single market. The report was produced in response to an inquiry launched in the Autumn of 2016 to examine priority issues for Government in its negotiations as it exits the EU. Particular attention was given to workforce, funding and the future regulatory environment issues. (more…)

Fibre, infrastructure competition, a USO but no Duct Co

Ofcom today published their initial conclusions from the Digital Communications Review that they kicked off last year. Whilst these are officially their interim findings, the direction of travel is relatively clear; over the next 10 years, the UK will move towards an increasingly all-fibre future, with widespread availability of competing fibre networks driving the take-up of ultrafast services underpinned by a USO. Against the background of convergence, Ofcom will do more to make it easier to compare quality of service across fixed, mobile and bundled offers. Openreach understandably lies at the heart of much of this and whilst BT will be sure to feel additional pain, Ofcom are not proposing full structural separation, yet.

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Improving financial capabilities by developing digital skills

In March 2015, Lloyds Bank published its second UK Business Digital Index highlighting the various factors contributing to the slow move towards becoming digital for a significant portion of SMEs. Last week, the first UK Consumer Digital Index was launched, establishing the link between digital and financial capability and investigating It found that £3.7bn of online savings for consumers could be made if the digitally and financially excluded were to realise online opportunities.

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Getting to the Internet of Everyone – still a work in progress

Every year the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a body set up by the ITU and UNESCO in 2010, sets out its annual report on the state of the global broadband industry. The headline from this year’s was that outside of some pockets such as mobile broadband, overall growth in internet take-up and usage is slowing; a concern when by the end of this year just 43.4% of the global population will be online.

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Analysys Mason Report: UK staying ahead of the curve for the next 5 years

Analysys Mason today published a report comparing the UK’s fixed telecoms market to the five major European countries and several other leading digital countries. It found that the UK is currently ahead of its European competitors on measures such as average speed*, superfast broadband coverage and take-up and will soon be outperforming countries such as Japan and the USA.

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The UK – a global broadband leader according to the Net Vitality Index

The UK is one of the five Global Broadband Internet Ecosystem Leaders, according to the Net Vitality Index. The report was produced by the Media Institute, a US not-for-profit research organisation focused on communications policy. It is based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the global broadband internet system and identifies the US, South Korea, Japan, and the UK as the top-tier global broadband leaders.

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