Telecoms spending on the up

Spending on telecoms services such as mobile and broadband continues to climb, according to the latest figures from regulator Ofcom.

Total UK retail revenues in the 12 months to March were £36.6bn - 5 per cent higher than a year ago.

Although spending on traditional fixed line services continued to slide, mobile revenues surged ahead.

According to Ofcom's latest quarterly update, the number of fixed lines in the UK fell by 600,000 over the last year to 33.5m as more people ditched their second line or opted to use their mobile as their main line instead.

As of June 2005, Ofcom notes that for the first time, the total number of broadband connections in the UK topped the number of dial-up accounts with some 8.1m broadband connections and 7.5m dial-up accounts.

Elsewhere, the OECD has published its latest Communications Outlook report [pdf] which analyses the communications sector over the years following the bursting of the "dotcom bubble".

It reports that telecoms revenues among OECD nations reached $946bn - up 10 per cent compared to 2002. And mirroring Ofcom's snapshot of the UK's telecoms sector, the OECD reports that revenue from traditional fixed line services is "relatively flat or shrinking" while revenue growth is strongest in mobile communications and broadband access. ®