Ofcom says one million homes have broadband without a TV, indicating phones and tablets are being used to view content

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The number of UK homes with a TV has fallen for the first time, as viewers turn to alternatives including tablets and smartphones to watch programmes.

Ofcom said that after years of consecutive growth, the number of households with a television set fell from 26.33m at the end of 2012 to 26.02m at the end of last year.

The media regulator said that nearly one million homes have a broadband connection, but no TV, indicating that other internet-connected devices are being used to view content.

Ofcom said catch-up TV content in particular is growing in importance and being watched on smartphones, tablets, computers and games consoles.

In its Infrastructure 2014 report, Ofcom cites BBC figures which show that in July 47% of requests for BBC iPlayer content came from tablets or mobiles, up from just 25% in October 2012.

“The way consumers interact with their TV, phone and broadband is changing as fast as technology is evolving,” said Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom.

Ofcom reckons that the typical UK household may need an internet connection of at least 10Mb to support all of the activities a family gets up to online.

Ofcom has found the average UK household or small business is downloading the equivalent of 35 feature films in data each month, and a 77% increase on 2013.

The average household uploads the equivalent amount of data as 3,500 digital photographs each month.

The report also found issues with the availability of broadband across the UK and mobile phone coverage. Some urban areas, including parts of central London, have poor superfast broadband coverage – known as city “not-spots”.

The issue of not-spots usually arises when there is no street cabinet to upgrade.

“Communications providers are looking at ways to take fibre closer to the customer where there is no cabinet,” said Ofcom.

The regulator said the government and telecommunications industry are also looking at options to get superfast broadband into rural areas to cover the “final 5%” of UK households.

“While this is technically complex and expensive, it is important that these remaining homes and businesses are not left behind,” said Ofcom.

The media regulator said that more work needs to be phone on mobile coverage and quality of service, and that more small and medium-sized businesses need access to superfast broadband.

“Ofcom has a major programme of work to assess how to support the needs of SMEs,” the regulator said.

“Digital infrastructure is crucial to the UK’s future,” said Richards. “As a country we are continuing to make real progress, particularly in the roll out and take-up of superfast broadband and 4G mobile services. But there is more to be done. We need to continue asking whether collectively we are doing enough to build the infrastructure of the future, and to maintain the competition that benefits consumers and businesses.”