Northern Ireland has the highest ownership of tablet computers in the UK, according to Ofcom's Communications Market Report for Northern Ireland 2013 published today.
The number of people owning a tablet in Northern Ireland has more than trebled in the past year, with nearly one in three homes (29%) having one, compared with 24% in the UK. Take-up was particularly marked in urban areas and homes with children.
The surge reflects the continuing rise in take-up and use of the internet in Northern Ireland.
The report also reveals that eight in ten households (80%) now have access to the internet, up from 73% the previous year.
People in Northern Ireland are increasingly accessing the internet on their mobile phones; smartphone ownership is up by a third, to 45%, in the past year.
Jonathan Rose, Ofcom's Northern Ireland Director, said: The rise of the tablet computer is the big story from this year's report.
Since they were launched just a few years ago, take-up of tablets has reached nearly a third of homes in Northern Ireland. Consumers value the portability and quick access to the internet at home and on the move that these devices provide.
This is also reflected in another sharp rise in smartphone ownership with nearly half of us owning one.
It is encouraging to see that the availability, take-up and use of most communications services in Northern Ireland are now on a par with and, in some cases, ahead of the rest of the United Kingdom.
Where we are doing less well is mobile coverage and the report highlights several initiatives that will improve coverage.
The report gives an insight into the communications devices people in Northern Ireland have and how they use them.
Social media continues to be popular among people in Northern Ireland, with more than half (53%) accessing Facebook, Twitter and similar services online, either at home or on the move. A similar proportion (51%) say they bank online, while three in five (60%) purchase goods and services on the internet.
Northern Ireland leads the way in take-up of pay TV, with two-thirds (66%) of homes having Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision or paid-for top-up services (e.g. Top-Up TV), compared with 59% for the UK as a whole.
New research, carried out for this year's report, also highlights the popularity of Republic of Ireland (RoI) TV channels in Northern Ireland. One in four people watch RTE channels (One and Two) every week, with smaller but still significant numbers watching TG4 and TV3. RoI television services, with the exception of TV3, became more widely available in Northern Ireland after digital switchover in October 2012.
Other key findings for Northern Ireland
Use of online services
Sixty per cent of internet users in Northern Ireland say they shop online and around three-quarters (74%) of online shoppers said they felt secure when paying online, broadly in line with the UK average.
Mobile coverage set to improve
Mobile users in Northern Ireland are more likely to be dissatisfied and more likely to experience problems with mobile coverage than consumers in the other UK nations 75% of respondents in NI had experienced a problem, compared to the UK average of 52%. Not getting a signal is the problem experienced by most respondents (59%).
The report sets out upcoming developments that are set to improve communication services in Northern Ireland. These include the Northern Ireland Executive's Broadband Improvement Project, the Mobile Infrastructure Project and ongoing investment by operators in mobile networks.
Radio listeners value local content
In radio, Ofcom research shows that listeners value local content, with a far bigger share tuning into local commercial and BBC stations than in other nations (58% of people compared to 38% in the UK as a whole).
DAB take-up
Across all the UK nations, take-up of DAB digital radio is lowest in Northern Ireland (24%), compared with an average of 41% in the UK.
TV and audio-visual content
The proportion of homes with Freeview as their main TV viewing platform has increased from 26% to 32% over the past year.
Availability of superfast broadband highest in the UK
The availability of superfast broadband in Northern Ireland is the highest across the UK with 95% of premises able to access fibre enabled cabinets in June 2013.
High satisfaction with postal services
Nine out of ten people in Northern Ireland are satisfied with Royal Mail. This is primarily driven by satisfaction with delivery times such as the time of day post is delivered (80% compared with 71% across the UK) and the reliability of delivery time (87% compared with 81%).
Over half of people living in Northern Ireland think the Royal Mail's First Class service for posting standard letters is good value for money, compared to 47% across the UK as a whole.
However, a quarter (26%) have experienced a problem with mis-delivered post in the past year, more than those in Wales and in Scotland.
Highlights of the UK report
Huge growth in take-up of smartphones and tablets is creating a nation of media multi-taskers, transforming the traditional living room of our parents and grandparents into a digital media hub.
Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2013 reveals that people are still coming together to watch TV in the living room 91% of UK adults view TV on the main set each week, up from 88% in 2002. However, an increasing array of digital media are now vying for their attention. People are streaming videos, firing off instant messages and updating their social media status all while watching more TV than before.
These activities are mostly carried out using smartphones, with over half of adults (51%) now owning these devices, almost double the proportion two years ago (27%).
At the same time, tablet ownership has more than doubled in the past year, rising from 11% of h
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
Northern Ireland has the highest ownership of tablet computers in the UK, according to Ofcom's Communications Market Report for Northern Ireland 2013 published today.
