Broadband growth slowing as UK hits 17.4 million subscribers
17th April 2009
The UK had 17.4 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2008 despite growth in broadband slowing down
There were 17.4 million broadband subscriptions in the UK by the end of 2008 according to the latest statistics from broadband statistic experts Point-Topic.
The actual number exceeded their estimation by 0.2% with LLU doing more subscriptions than were predicted although cable broadband didn't exceed the expectations.
ADSL now accounts for 78.6% of the UK broadband market, up from 78%. Cable broadband makes up most of the remaining, with around just 0.2% being made up from other technologies such as fixed wireless and satellite broadband.
However the overall growth in broadband was 10.6% which is much less than in 2007 where there was a 19.9% growth in broadband subscriptions.
There was around 1 million new broadband subscriptions in the first half of 2008 and only 675,000 during the second half of 2008. The slower growth could be from a couple of factors, first being the saturation of broadband in the UK, with many already having broadband there isn't that many new people who are after getting broadband and also with the start of the recession and the "credit crunch" in the UK meaning many are starting to tighten their belts to save money and possibly see broadband as a service they can afford to live without at the moment.
The overall outlook of broadband in the UK will continue to see slow growth this year but with the roll out of fibre broadband from BT we could soon see broadband speeds increasing and larger bandwidth available.
Author: Mark Ward Copyright: BroadbandWatchdog.co.uk - NetMediaUK.com
