24 August 2007
Competition between telecom providers is helping to push down prices for home telephone customers, the latest report by Ofcom has revealed.
According to the UK communications watchdog, lead player BT's share of fixed voice call volumes fell below 50% for the first time in 2006, forcing prices to be driven down significantly for the consumer.
Ofcom found that households would have paid £6.51 (9%) more for the same bundle of services (including a fixed line, two mobiles and a broadband connection per household) in 2005 than in 2006.
The news comes as the number of hours spent talking on land lines seems to be reducing, mainly due to the popularity of talking via mobile phones.
Figures from the regulator reveal that calls from mobile phones now make up more than a third of the total overall time spent on the phone.
Indeed the report shows that by the end of 2006 there were more than double the number of mobile connections than landline connections in the UK, at 69.7 million and 33.6 million respectively.
"There are more households which are now mobile-only in terms of their phone. The first quarter of 2007 is the first time that has happened," Ofcom spokesman Peter Phillips said.
"Industry innovation and competition continue to deliver significant benefits to the UK economy and consumers," he added.
The regulator's figures show only 7% of households now rely solely on a landline to make calls, compared to 9% of UK households who rely on mobile phones.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.