Internet Uptake Flattens In Quarter Three

The number of UK homes connected to the internet remained static at 39% during the three-month period ending in August 2001, according to the latest quarterly report from Oftel.

The amount of households with access to the web has been growing steadily since January 1999 and this is the first time that there has not been a significant increase in the amount of users accessing the net from home.

Uptake surged during the same period last year with over a million people going online between June and August (see Oftel Report Shows Rapid Rate Of Internet Growth Continues) and while Oftel maintains “it is too early to tell,” the lack of growth this quarter could indicate “a change in the long-term trend.”

Oftel’s director general of communications, David Edmunds, said: “Greater consumer awareness about price and quality is needed so that more people can benefit from the competition that exists in the market.”

According to the report, PCs continue to be the preferred method of accessing the web and those with at-home internet access remain more likely to have digital TV.

The survey also shows that the internet market as a whole remained broadly unchanged, with web usage continuing to be most prominent amongst AB social grades, higher income groups, larger households and younger consumers.

A gradual rise in the number of C2DE households and lower income groups connecting to the net during Q3 was revealed as the affordability of digital TV’s and mobile phones with internet capability increased.

OFTEL: 020 7634 8700 www.oftel.gov.uk

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