Wanadoo UK hits broadband high

But overall subscriber figures down

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 28th April 2005 13:28 GMT

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Wanadoo UK has seen the number of broadband subscribers in the UK rocket over the last year as more and more people switch from dial-up to high-speed access.

At the end of March 2004, Wanadoo UK had 192,000 broadband users. Today, parent company France Telecom revealed that its ISP now has a whopping 717,000 broadband users.

While Wanadoo is making much of its broadband drive, today's figures also reveal that its overall subscriber base fell by more than 200,000 punters over the last 12 months. The UK ISP, formerly known as Freeserve, has seen total numbers fall from 2.6m at the end of March 2004 to 2.4m this year - a fall of 9 per cent. Despite this, Wanadoo UK remains upbeat about its performance.

A spokeswoman for the company told The Register that the decline in narrowband numbers "was not a surprise" and that it was a "market trend experienced by all big ISPs". Asked to comment on the decline in overall numbers she said: "Our focus is on broadband and there is bound to be some fallout in narrowband figures."

Overall, France Telecom reported a "strong growth in broadband" with its total European customer base up 74 per cent from 4.1m in Q1 04 to 7.2m at the end of March 2005. ®