Britain has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for broadband internet access, with new research showing that by the end of 2005 there will be more than 8.2 million broadband subscribers in the UK.
The latest figures from Informa Telecoms Group’s Baskerville unit show that nearly 5.6 million of these will be connected on phone lines using high-speed DSL technology.
The report shows that currently, one in five of every UK household now has a broadband connection, with the number of connections expected to grow by a further 64% over the next fifteen months. Helping the Government reach its target of being the most extensive and competitive broadband market among the G7 countries by the end of next year (see Britain On Track To Lead Broadband Nations).
The rapid uptake is good news for BT, which has a long-standing goal of selling 5 million DSL broadband connections by the end of 2006. BT sells DSL broadband services on a wholesale basis through its BT-branded services and via more than 150 resellers.
The growth in broadband subscriptions will be driven by falling prices and increased in competition in the market. A number of major internet service providers, including BT, Wanadoo and AOL, all currently offer standard broadband packages for less than £20 per month.
Increasing penetration has also been fuelled by aggressive Government-led policies to allow for ‘local group unbundling’, in which resellers pay fees to install DSl equipment at the incumbent operator’s local phone exchanges to gain direct connections to customers and offer high-speed services.
Earlier this months Cable & Wireless announced plans to invest £50 million in local loop unbundling with the rollout of a range of high-speed broadband internet services, which are expected to be at least four times as fast as the connections offered by rivals (see Low-Cost Set Top Boxes Will Boost Digital TV Growth).
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