The Communications Market 2010: Wales

The digital divide between Wales and the UK as a whole is continuing to narrow, according to Ofcom's Communications Market Report for 2010.

Take up of services has increased in the last 12 months and in some areas Wales now leads the way.

Take up of both digital television and mobile broadband is higher in Wales compared with the other nations of the UK.

In Wales itself, rural areas are outperforming urban areas in the take up of communications services.

For example, consumers in rural Wales are more likely to own a mobile phone than their urban neighbours, despite there being more mobile not spots in rural areas.

But Welsh consumers are not only embracing communications services - they're also become increasingly tech-savvy.

Some 44 per cent of households now take a discounted bundle of services from one operator, up from 35 per cent the previous year.

And the use of social networking in Wales has also grown significantly in the past 12 months.

Some 37 per cent of Welsh people now use a social network site such as Facebook, a 50 per cent increase compared with 2009.

Ofcom's Director in Wales, Rhodri Williams, said: 'It's good to see that the digital divide between Wales and the UK as a whole is narrowing.

'Communications services are rapidly becoming a necessity rather than a luxury for Welsh consumers and businesses in all parts of Wales.

'Even though our report indicates that there are still challenges to overcome, the direction of travel is positive.'

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Wales is the first Digital TV Nation in the UK after the digital TV switchover was completed in March 2010.

Take-up of digital television is higher in Wales than the other UK nations with take-up highest in North and Mid Wales (99 per cent)

Spend on English-language programmes produced in Wales by the BBC and ITV decreased from £33m in 2008 to £28m in 2009.

Viewers in Wales benefited from real terms expenditure per head of £9.16 in 2009 compared to £11.01 in 2008. This is still over double the UK average of £4.14 per head.

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People in Wales listen to the most radio in the UK at almost 22.7 hours per week.

But they're less likely to own a DAB set than the UK average. Twenty nine per cent of households in Wales have a DAB digital radio set, compared to the UK average of 38 per cent.

Households in South East Wales are most likely to have DAB. More than a third of households (36 per cent) had a set compared with South West Wales where only 26 per cent of households had a DAB set.

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Broadband take-up in Wales is lower (64 per cent) than the UK as a whole (71 per cent).

But over the last 12 months, there has been a greater increase in broadband take-up (6 per cent) than the UK average (3 per cent).

Broadband take-up in rural Wales (69 per cent) continues to be higher than urban Wales (62 per cent).

Take-up of mobile broadband is higher in Wales (16 per cent) than any of the other UK nations.

South East Wales has the highest proportion of mobile broadband households (18 per cent) followed by North and Mid Wales (14 per cent) and South West Wales (12 per cent).

Some 37 per cent of Welsh people use a social network site such as Facebook, a 50 per cent increase on last year.

Over a quarter of Welsh consumers (28 per cent) have watched TV or video content online.

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Consumers in rural Wales are more likely to own a mobile phone (93 per cent) than their urban neighbours (87 per cent).

Some 19 per cent of homes in Wales are mobile-only, the highest proportion in the UK.

Eighty nine per cent of the population live in an area with 2G mobile coverage from one or more operator.

Some 69 per cent of the Welsh population live in an area with 3G mobile coverage from one or more operator.

Satisfaction with mobile reception is high - 90 per cent are satisfied with their reception.

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