The UK slowly accepts the Internet into the home

Posted on 7 May 2002 at 10:54

Oftel has released its latest survey on Internet use in the UK and the figures reveal almost half our homes are online.

Surveying 2,138 UK adults, Oftel found that 46 per cent claimed to have Internet access at home (19 per cent currently access the Internet at work). The figures are actually little changed from the previous quarter's survey, where 45 per cent recorded home access. Similarly, PC ownership at home remains unchanged at the 54 per cent figure.

In terms of narrowband versus broadband, 88 per cent of homes with Net access use ordinary phone-lines to dial up, three per cent use ISDN, and only eight per cent have broadband access via a DSL or cable modem (a growth of only one per cent). While dial-up access has waxed (growing by five per cent in the three months since the last survey), ISDN has waned (dropping six per cent). Generally, unmetered access remains the most popular format - it is preferred by 43 per cent.

Carried out in February 2002 by MORI, the research also reveals that only 53 per cent of those with Internet access at home are even aware of broadband services. Apparently, advice from friends and relatives was the primary source of information on DSL/cable modem services, which suggests that ISPs are still not getting their broadband message across to users.

The top five ISPs in the home market are reported to be Freeserve (unchanged from the last quarter at 21 per cent), BT (up from 16 to 20 per cent), AOL (up from 15 to 17 per cent), NTL (up from 9 to 11 per cent), and Telewest/Blue Yonder (a new entry at 3 per cent). The last two, presumably - along with BT - enjoying the fruits of the small broadband take-up.

As to how people connect, 94 per cent of home users do so via a PC or laptop. Six per cent use mobile phones, and five per cent use digital televisions.

The average amount of time spent online at home is reported to be nine hours per week (an increase of one hour). But, as Oftel points out, the average figure is distorted somewhat by a small proportion of heavy usage. It seems that half of home users spend less than five hours online each week.

As for the social and income profiles of those who are Net connected, the figures are largely what you would expect: higher income groups predominate, with interest highest among younger to middle age customers. The breakdown is the same for PC ownership.

One surprising stat involves satisfaction levels. Almost nine users in ten are 'satisfied with their overall Internet service', with the dissatisfied emerging from the ranks of using dial-up, metered services.

You can read the full Oftel report here.

Oftel also released an equivalent report on the mobile phone market. Headline figures include the following: 73 per cent of UK adults now use a mobile phone, 67 per cent of mobile customers use a pay-as-you-go phone, £20 was the average monthly mobile phone bill, and a large 94 per cent of users were 'satisfied with their overall mobile service'.

The Oftel mobile report can be found here.

Author: Alun Williams