Regional reach of superfast broadband in the UK
What’s the audience reach?
UK consumers are getting their entertainment from an increasing number of channels. Some come into our living rooms on traditional terrestrial TV but more and more consumers are viewing broadband delivered entertainment, video included and according to the ISPs the one they want most is sport.Different ISPs offer different bundles and that contributes, in part at least, to the buying decisions consumers are taking today in the UK.
It’s vital for those suppliers, and the advertisers and other interested parties, to know who they are reaching, where, with what and how much potential there is.
Figure 1: Superfast take-up by region and technology (Dec 2013 – % of total premises)
Superfast penetration by region and technology
We can see that if you’re in London you’re more likely to have a superfast line than in other Government Office Regions and in common with almost all of the UK that superfast supply will most often be from Virgin Media.
However that picture is changing. Now that BT has brought FTTx to much of the UK consumers have more choice for their bundles and their video channels. With sport from BT and Sky as well as TalkTalk’s model of essentially reselling various Sky options.
Virgin still dominates the supply of next generation across the UK and in almost all the UK’s regions by dint of being the most established supplier. FTTx is closing the gap on cable in terms of take-up/homes passed and while it has some way to go we can see from regions like the South East that consumers are almost as keen on FTTx as they are on cable after only a few years of serious deployment.
How many RGUs, how many eyeballs and where?
What does this mean in absolute terms however? How many revenue generating units are there, where are they and how are they getting their supply.
Although we don’t have as many cords to cut in the UK as our cousins over the pond the Brits are shifting their entertainment sources often mixing and matching to get the experience they want at the price point they find achievable. This means not only is it useful to know what services can be achieved by who and where but preferably who is delivering it too.
Figure 2: Total premises with and without a superfast line (end Dec 2013)
Audience reach by tech and region
If you want to gain the most customers, in absolute terms, then you should start in the South East and work your way down the table above.
Find out more
The data used in this report is taken from Point Topic’s UK Broadband Mapping service. Telephone +44 (0)20 3301 3303 or e-mail toby.french@point-topic.com for more details.
