My favourite ‘free’ report every year is the Ofcom Communications Market Report 2012 (download the 400+ pages from the link) I say ‘free’ but actually we, as taxpayers, pay for it as it is produced by Ofcom.
There are so many ‘headlines’ that it is difficult to know where to start. The national media has homed in on the declining volume of mobile and fixed line calls in favour of texting, emailing and the use of social media. Indeed for younger people, text-based services dominate communication with friends and family on a daily basis. Around nine in ten 16-24 year olds send texts, and three-quarters (73%) use social networks. Face-to-face communication is less popular (63%) as are mobile phone calls (67%) and landline calls (15%). It is rather different for older people. Landline calls are still the most popular (42%) form of communication for the over 65s.
I am, however, rather pleased to report that UK adults of all ages say that they prefer to communicate face-to-face with their friends and family. 83% of adults prefer to speak in person to friends and family. This applies to younger and older people alike, with 75% of 16-24s saying this is the case, compared to 85% of those aged 65+.
Two-fifths of UK adults are now smartphone users. Take-up has risen from 27% in 2011 to 39% in Q1 2012. Tablet ownership has risen rapidly in the past year, from 2% of UK households in Q1 2011 to 11% in Q1 2012. This growth looks set to continue as around one in six (17%) households say they intend to buy a tablet in the next year.
Each household in the UK has on average three different types of internet-enabled device. Only one household in a thousand owns all ten devices surveyed, but 57% own three or more types
of connected device.
But with all the wondrous changes taking place in how we use Communications, it is sobering to report that the total revenues of the UK communications industry fell in absolute terms for the 5th year in a row. Industry revenue decreased by 0.3% in 2011 to £53.2bn. While total operator reported telecoms revenues fell by 1.9% in 2011 to £39.7bn, TV revenues increased by 4.9% to £12.3bn, and radio revenues grew by 3.5% to £1.2bn
Indeed, if you applied inflation to these figures, you would see the UK Comms market is now smaller than it was ten years ago. ICT is deflationary? Not controversial anymore. It’s fact.