UK ISP, Mobile Internet and Cable Subscriber Numbers - December 2013

Here is an update of the UK ISP market covering DSL and Cable Access market as well as the Mobile Dongle market in the UK.  I have also added in the published figures for 3G and 4G mobile access devices. I have used ITU published data for Broadband usage numbers and Neilson Ratings and ISP published figures to get an accurate picture as well all the reports and disclosures for each of the companies shown below. I believe these figures represent a reasonably accurate representation of the genuine adoption of broadband either via DSL, Cable or mobile dongle. Broadband connections included in this data cover download speeds equal to or faster than 256kbit/s.

Table 1. Broadband ISPs (Source: ITU, Neilsen, OFCOM & ISP Published Figures)

No.	ISP/Provider	User Numbers	% of UK Market (inc Mobile)
1	BT Retail	6,961,000	26.07%
2	Sky Broadband	5,017,000	18.79%
3	Virgin Media	4,488,600	16.81%
4	TalkTalk Group	4,076,000	15.27%
5	Orange	714,000	2.67%
6	Kingston Comms	178,200	0.67%
7	Zen Internet	94,000	0.32%
8	Vodafone UK	85,000	0.31%
9	Thus Group	80,000	0.30%
10	Entanet	70,000	0.26%

BT continues to grow its user base at the expense of the smaller players.  Sky Broadband has continued to grow, primarily by acquisition having taken over O2’s broadband user base.  However, although BT Sport is still in its early days, it is clearly impacting Sky’s organic growth.

The total UK Internet connectivity market is not only made up of Broadband ISPs, but connection is now frequently through 3G and a growing 4G user base. Consequently I have taken the total market as being made up of both the fixed-line broadband and mobile internet access as I think it would be erroneous to suggest that they are not part of the same competitive market. The Broadband ISP market size is estimated to be just under 22 million broadband connections. OFCOM estimates the mobile internet connectivity to be in the region of 5.0 million mobile broadband users in addition the 21.7 million fixed line users.  So the total market is estimated at 26.7million subscribers.  Of these super broadband users make up just 3.7million.

UK ISP, Cable, Dongle and 3G and 4G User numbers November 2012

Here is an update of the UK ISP market covering DSL and Cable Access market as well as the Mobile Dongle market in the UK.  I have also added in the published figures for 3G and 4G mobile access devices. I have used ITU published data for Broadband usage numbers and Neilson Ratings and ISP published figures to get an accurate picture as well all the reports and disclosures for each of the companies shown below. I believe these figures represent a reasonably accurate representation of the genuine adoption of broadband either via DSL, Cable or mobile dongle. Broadband connections included in this data cover download speeds equal to or faster than 256kbit/s.

Table 1. Broadband ISPs (Source: ITU, Neilsen, OFCOM & ISP Published Figures)


No.	ISP/Provider	User Numbers	% of UK Market
1	BT Retail	6,444,600	30.43%
2	Virgin Media	4,413,400	20.84%
3	Sky Broadband	4,103,000	19.47%
4	TalkTalk Group	4,043,000	19.09%
5	Orange	723,000	3.41%
6	O2	579,000	2.73%
7	Kingston Comms	178,200	0.84%
8	Zen Internet	94,000	0.44%
9	Entanet	92,000	0.43%
10	Thus Group	87,000	0.41%


The major change over the past year has been been the continued growth of Sky Broadband which has seen it rise above TalkTalk.  Undoubtedly the combination of the Sky bundled offerings with its satellite TV content has driven this growth.  Recent launch of Talk Talk's TV set-top box plus the major BT play into football are both aiming at trying to redress this strategy.  Clearly Orange and O2 are seeking to enhance their position in the UK market through growth in the connected Tablet market which is experiencing phenomenal growth as eluded to below. 

The total UK Internet connectivity market is not only made up of Broadband ISPs, but connection is now frequently through 3G and most recently 4G mobile network connections.  The Broadband ISP market size is estimated to be just over 21 million broadband connections. The figures for mobile connectivity is much harder to obtain, however, given that there are now many millions of Internet enable phones in use today. However, OFCOM indicate in their latest facts on the market that there are 5.1 million mobile broadband users in addition the 21 million fixed line users.

UK ISP, Cable and Dongle User Numbers - Jan 2009

Here is an update of the UK ISP market covering DSL and Cable Access market as well as the first inclusion of the Mobile Dongle market in the UK. I have used ITU published data for Broadband usage numbers and Neilson Ratings to get an accurate picture as well all the reports and disclosures for each of the companies shown below. I believe these figures represent a reasonably accurate representation of the genuine adoption of broadband either via DSL, Cable or mobile dongle. Broadband connections included in this data cover download speeds equal to or faster than 256kbit/s.

ISP     Total    % of   UK Accts. BT 4,600,000 25.87% Virgin Media 3,885,800 21.86% CPW (inc AOL) 2,700,000 15.19% Sky 1,955,000 11.00% Tiscali UK 1,774,000 9.98% Orange 1,023,000 5.75% Royal Mail 560,000 3.15% O2 (Be & Dongles) 287,090 1.61% 3 (Mobile Dongles) 215,000 1.21% Kingston      195,255 1.10% T-Mobile (Dongle) 132,000 0.74% Thus 126,000 0.71% Vodafone (Dongle) 116,000 0.65% Entanet 92,000 0.52% Clara.net UK 72,000 0.40% Breathe 12,000 0.07% Supanet 6,000 0.03% Others 28,000 0.16% Total    17,779,145   100.00%

Following on from C&W acquisition of Thus, Kingston still look very vulnerable and would make a good fit for C&W or for Sky as they continue to make their play to achieve 3 million broadband users.  The Tiscali saga seems to have no end in sight and given the current economic climate the allure to perspective buyers of plain utility broadband (PUB) is looking increasingly unattractive.

One exciting area of development has been the inclusion of the growing “Internet Dongle” market.  T-Mobile, 3 and Vodafone are all significant players in this growing market and I have decided it is worth including them in the list as their business takes share from the PUB operators.

BT is beginning to roll out its 21st Century Network (21CN) and they are seeking to work with a whole range of ISP partners to offer new services.  The investment in 21CN must deliver much slicker broadband to ensure BT maintains top slot as Virgin and notably O2 are making great play of the 20 Meg plus services.  The rise of 3G Mobile Dongle market is beginning to mop up the rest of the available UK broadband demand and the only way to retain users will be through increased speed and extended range of services many of them bundle into the basic price.

This begs the question, where will future revenues come from?  PPC rates are declining across the board and Google is eating everyone’s lunch.  CPA continues to prosper, but it is a long way from the major sources of new media advertising revenue.  Let’s hope that it isn’t to the likes of Phorm that BT come to rely on from value added income from user activity.

UK ISP Numbers in October 2008

Here is an update of the UK ISP market covering DSL and Cable Access market in the UK. I have used ITU published data for Broadband usage numbers and Neilson Ratings to get an accurate picture as well all the reports and disclosures for each of the ISPs shown below. I believe these figures represent a reasonably accurate representation of the genuine adoption of broadband either via DSL or Cable. Broadband connections included in this data cover download speeds equal to or faster than 256kbit/s. Dial-up continues to collapse and very few of the ISPs offer any user numbers.

ISP Total % of UK Accts. BT 4,500,000 26.64% Virgin Media 3,836,000 22.71% CPW (inc AOL) 2,800,000 16.57% Tiscali UK 1,838,000 10.88% Sky 1,628,000 9.64% Orange 1,063,000 6.29% Royal Mail 500,000 2.96% Kingston 195,255 1.16% O2 (Be)    194,220 1.15% Thus 126,000 0.75% Entanet 92,000 0.54% Clara.net UK 72,000 0.43% Breathe 15,000 0.09% Supanet 6,000 0.04% Others 28,000 0.17% Total 16,893,475 100.00%

There continues to be consolidation of the UK market over the past year. As I predicted last year C&W have made a move on Thus.  This is likely to close in thenext few weeks.   One imagines that Kingston would make a good fit for C&W or Sky as they make their play to achieve 3 million broadband users.  The sale of Tiscali seems to have hit the buffers just at the moment.  As CPW has been excluded from bidding by Tiscali, the most likely buyer is either Sky or Vodafone.  Vodafone has made a number of major ISP acquisitions in Europe including various Tele2 assets and Arcor in Germany.  A move into the UK might be a long overdue play.  

One area that is frequently overlooked in the UK is the growth of the “Internet Dongle” market.  T-Mobile, 3 and Vodafone are all significant players in this growing market, but as yet numbers are hard to come by.  

Perhaps one the most interesting challenges will be for BT to maintain their top position over the coming year.  With the imminent roll out of the 21st Century Network (21CN), BT Retail is hoping to be able to launch a range of additional services to grow their user base.  However, if they persist with serves such as Phorm, they may well risk this pre-eminent position by encouraging the BT Wholesale business to syphon off business through their support of major VISP operators such as Royal Mail, who in the last year came from nowhere to grab almost 3% of the UK Broadband market.