Broadband connection forecast downgraded
Broadband connection forecast downgraded
The UK is expected to have fewer broadband connections by the end of 2016 than initially forecast.
Analyst Point Topic has downgraded the number of lines expected to be operating in the UK by nearly eight per cent to 23.88 million. It said the ‘easy wins’ had already been connected and broadband suppliers are now trying to sign up new business from a ‘more resistant’ pool of customers.
Point Topic chief executive, Oliver Johnson, said: “The remaining pool of offline households are proving difficult to convert with disposable income, for example, struggling to recover but the delay in the BDUK deployment has to take a share of the blame.”
Although low incomes will continue to prevent some homes from signing up to broadband networks, analysis in the Digital Deprivation in the UK report found that over-60s are in no hurry to sign up, and disabled people and those living in rented social housing are also less likely to have home broadband connections.
The fall in the number of forecast connections using fibre optic close in the final mile to users’ homes (FTTX) is even greater, according to the report. Point Topic now predicts that the UK will have around 9.4 million FFTX connections by 2016, a fall of 12 per cent on its previous forecast. It said that users do not want to increase the amount they spend on broadband subscriptions and issues with the roll-out of superfast services have also made them less likely to make the move.
Point Topic’s latest predictions forecast that there will be almost 20 million FTTX users in the UK by the end of the decade, as well as 23 million homes signed up for superfast broadband. It expects big providers and niche companies to see the greatest benefits from the future take-up.
hSo provides managed networks designed for business. To get an instant cost for a leased line at your location, visit our online leased line price checker.
