Wales has worst access to superfast broadband

Access to superfast broadband in Wales is significantly lower than the rest of the UK, according to a new report from Ofcom.

The telecoms regulator Ofcom published its communications market report for the country yesterday, which showed that, while on average 73% of UK residents had access to the speedier internet connections, the figure was just 48% in Wales.

Despite the significantly lower number, the report defended the country’s efforts, showing it had the largest increase in access of any of the UK countries, growing by 11% in just one year.

But adoption figures of fixed line and broadband services were still below the UK average for the country. A total of 66% of Welsh households had a broadband connection in the first quarter of 2013, 9% lower than the 75% UK average, and 76% had fixed line services, 8% lower than the 84% UK average.

When it comes to mobile, however, Wales seems to be leading the way. Across the UK just 15% of households rely solely on a mobile phone, but this figure shoots up to 23% in Wales with citizens turning their back on traditional landline phones.

The number of people owning smartphones also grew from 12% to 54% of all Welsh citizens and in rural parts of the country adoption of the devices grew from 33% to 48%.

“Wales remains at the forefront when it comes to mobile-only homes and it is encouraging to see rural Wales leading the way in smartphone ownership, a trend set to continue with the imminent rollout of 4G services across the UK,” said Rhodri Williams, director of Ofcom in Wales.

“4G services will mean faster mobile broadband speeds, greater innovation, new investment and better coverage across Wales with at least 95% of the population of Wales receiving an indoor 4G coverage by the end of 2017 at the latest. This will mean that 4G coverage will extend beyond that of existing 3G services.”

However, Ian Clarke, chairman of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Wales (ACW), warned it would be imperative to secure government funding to keep the trend growing and improve access to other technologies.

“This year’s communications market report for Wales suggests an increasing preference for mobile telecommunications, with higher levels of mobile-only homes and smartphone ownership in Wales; and lower levels of fixed line broadband take-up compared with the UK average,” Clarke said.

“It will be crucial to ensure that the UK Government’s Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) and forthcoming rollout of 4G services serve to support this trend and ensure that all of Wales’ residents can access the next generation of mobile services, regardless of location.”

Ofcom proposes cuts to wholesale broadband charges

The price BT is allowed to charge for its wholesale broadband is set to be slashed by Ofcom, leading to savings for the consumer.

BT today proposed new charge controls on BT’s Openreach products, which it sells to smaller ISPs so they can offer broadband telephone lines over the dominant network.

If the plans go through, the current charge of £84.26 for fully unbundled lines – which enable providers to install their own equipment for telephone and broadband services in BT’s exchanges – could fall by up to 6% every year between April 2014 and March 2017.

Shared unbundled lines – ISPs using their own equipment for broadband but BT’s voice network – will see the £9.75 annual charge fall between 8% and 12% every year and wholesale line rental – where providers use BT’s voice network to offer their own phone service – will drop from £93.27 annually by between 2% and 8% over the three year period.

Ofcom hopes these savings will then lead to cheaper deals for consumers buying services from providers using BT’s wholesale network.

“These controls would reduce wholesale charges that could be expected to lead to real-terms price reductions for consumers, as communications providers pass on savings to their landline and broadband customers,” read a statement from the regulator.

The changes should not come as a surprise to BT. The prices have always been regulated by Ofcom due to the significant market power held by the telecoms giant across the UK and last week the regulator published its fixed access market review showing this dominance was still apparent.

This review also made proposals around cutting the minimum contract ISPs have to sign up to in order to get virtual unbundled local access (Vula) from one year to one month and to slash the charge levied by BT to ISPs when they change providers.