Revenue of telecom network operators in the UK grew by £0.2 billion or 0.5 percent to £37.5 billion in 2015, said Ofcom.
Average monthly household spending on telecoms services in the UK rose by £2.52 or 3.2 percent to £82.17 – largely a result of people switching to superfast broadband, which is generally around £10 more per month than standard broadband; line rental prices have also increased.
The number of homes with landline telephones fell by 0.3 million or 1 percent to 33.2 million in 2015 as people shift to mobile services and instant messaging.
The number of mobile subscriptions increased by 1.6 million or 1.8 percent to 91.5 million in 2015. UK had 39.5 million 4G subscribers, said Ofcom. Demand for 4G services has tripled since the start of 2014.
66 percent of adults now use internet data services on a mobile phone against 61 percent in 2015.
The number of text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages sent each year continued to decline – from 110 billion in 2014, to 101 billion in 2015. Volumes have fallen by around a third since peaking in 2012, largely as a result of growing use of Instant Messaging.
Fixed broadband connections increased by 0.9 million or 3.9 percent to 24.7 million in 2015. The number of superfast broadband connections rose by 2.0 million or 28.7 percent to 9.2 million.
The average fixed broadband line used 82 GB of data per month in 2015 – up 41 percent from the 58 GB per month recorded in June 2014.
Internet
86 percent of adults now have home internet access via any device.
36 percent UK consumers use smartphones for internet access, while 29 percent use laptops.
Total UK communications revenues generated by telecoms, TV, radio and postal services increased by £0.4 billion or 0.9 percent to £56.5 billion.
Average monthly household spending on communication services has decreased in real terms over the past five years – from £121.15 in 2010, to £118.90 in 2015, representing a monthly decrease of £2.25, or £27 per year.
UK had 9.2 million fixed broadband connections with superfast speed against 7.1 million in 2014.
97.8 percent of UK homes and businesses had 4G coverage from at least one provider, according to Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2016.
The proportion of adults using services such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp once a week rose from 28 percent in 2014 to 43 percent in 2016 – the biggest increase across all communications and media activities.
Instant messaging is also considered the single most important means of communication among 16-24 year olds.
Emailing and texting (SMS) remain the most common methods of text communication, at 70 percent and 63 percent respectively in a given week, but both have decreased since 2014.
