28 February 2006:

Ofcom today published its 'Communications Market - Interim Report February 2006', which includes the latest data available for the second and third quarters of 2005. This report is one of a series of regular updates to Ofcom’s annual Communications
market reports, the latest of which was published in August 2005.

This issue mainly covers data from Q2 and Q3 2005, with market development updates covering the period from June 2005 to February 2006. It aims to give a comprehensive picture of the radio, telecommunications and television sectors, with a round-up of recent developments and the latest available data on:

· Industry size, structure and financing;
· Availability, penetration and use of products and services; and
· Consumer attitudes and behaviour.

In addition, in this report Ofcom takes a closer look at some emerging themes in each sector:
· Radio sector finance;
· Mobile Virtual Network operators (MVNOs); and
· The cable sector.

Amongst key facts are included:

• By the end of September 2005, Ofcom’s data showed that 57% of the country’s 15.5 million internet connections were over broadband, and latest figures show that by December 2005 there were almost 9.8 million broadband connections across the UK
• The number of local loop unbundled (LLU) lines grew from fewer than 50,000 in Q1 2005 to over 200,000 by the end of the year, and according to the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator this total had increased to 250,000 by February 2006
  

See the Telecommunications Market Data Tables for Q3 2005 (pdf 446KB).

See also: Communications Market Reports - August 2005 Quarterly Update and Telecommunications Market Data Tables Q2 2005, published November 2005.