Nearly a quarter of homes in Wales are shunning the traditional landline and using only mobile phones to make and receive phone calls at home, according to Ofcom research published today.
Twenty-three per cent of households in Wales are mobile-only, significantly more than the UK average of 15 per cent. This is up from 20 per cent last year.
Adults in Cardiff are less likely than those in other parts of Wales to use their landline. This may be due to a higher take-up of internet-enabled mobile devices in Cardiff, with 61% of adults owning one, compared with 42% across the whole of Wales.
Smartphone ownership has also continued to increase in Wales over the past year, with over half (54%) of people now owning a smartphone, a 12 percentage point increase compared to last year. Rural Wales also saw the UK's biggest increase in smartphone take-up, a 15 percentage point increase on 2012 (from 33% to 48%).
In addition to key findings relating to the take-up and use of communications services in Wales, Ofcom's Communications Market Report for Wales 2013 also looks at the use of and attitudes towards government services online (e-government); consumers' use of the internet to make purchases (e-commerce); users' experience of mobile phone quality of service; and the effect of communications infrastructure availability on Cardiff and Bangor.
The research finds that while next generation broadband access is now available to over 90% of premises in Cardiff, 10% of premises cannot connect to a service that exceeds 2 Mbit/s. Bangor also has reasonably high next generation broadband availability and recently became one of the first areas to benefit from the Superfast Cymru project, the Welsh Government's partnership with BT to deliver superfast broadband to 96% of Welsh households by 2016.
Bangor also has a very high number of wifi hotspots with 14.1 (per 10,000 population), double that of Cardiff (7.1) and more than double that for the average of the 11 cities researched (6.2).
Rhodri Williams, Ofcom's Director for Wales, said: In today's Wales, connectivity matters because of the increasing integration of digital communications within daily life for consumers, citizens and businesses.
Wales remains at the forefront when it comes to mobile-only homes and it is encouraging to see rural Wales leading the way in smartphone ownership, a trend set to continue with the imminent rollout of 4G services across the UK. 4G services will mean faster mobile broadband speeds, greater innovation, new investment and better coverage across Wales with at least 95% of the population of Wales receiving an indoor 4G coverage by the end of 2017 at the latest. This will mean that 4G coverage will extend beyond that of existing 3G services.
Ian Clarke, Chairman of Ofcom's Advisory Committee for Wales (ACW), said: This year's Communications Market Report for Wales suggests an increasing preference for mobile telecommunications, with higher levels of mobile-only homes and smartphone ownership in Wales; and lower levels of fixed line broadband take-up compared with the UK average. It will be crucial to ensure that the UK Government's Mobile Infrastructure Project and forthcoming rollout of 4G services serve to support this trend and ensure that all of Wales' residents can access the next generation of mobile services, regardless of location.
It is also encouraging to see that the volume of originated networked TV productions in Wales increased in 2012. The ACW would welcome further progress in this area and we will continue to campaign for all public service broadcasters to adequately reflect the different viewpoints and cultural diversity of Wales through their network productions.
Key findings for Wales
Use of online services
In Wales, two-thirds (66%) of those with internet access use online Government services, such as paying car tax, and applying for benefits, a bus pass, or a school place, higher than the UK average of 61%. Around half (53%) of users of these online services say they have engaged with Government services or policies more since accessing them online, lower than the UK average of 58%.
Sixty-two per cent of internet users in Wales say they shop online, the same as the UK average. Seventy nine per cent of online shoppers in Wales say they feel secure when paying online, higher than the UK average of 76%.
Not-spots' users' experience of mobile phone quality of service
Mobile coverage is particularly important when choosing a provider, for people living in Wales. Mobile users living in Wales are significantly more likely than those in England or Scotland to say that the ability to make or receive calls or texts is the most important factor when choosing a provider.
TV and audio-visual content
People in Wales spend 4.5 hours per day watching TV, the highest across all the nations.
Spend on first-run originated TV content for viewers in Wales decreased by 3% year on year, slightly below the average UK decline of 4%.
First-run originated hours in Wales have decreased by almost a quarter (24%) since 2007; the largest relative reduction in first-run originated nations' output over the five-year period.
Radio and audio content
More people in Wales listen to the radio than in any other nation. Radio services reached 93.1% of the adult population in Wales, the highest of all the UK nations and 3.5 percentage points higher than the UK average of 89.5%.
Ownership of DAB digital radios is significantly lower than the UK average. Just over one in four (27%) of those who listen to radio in Wales own a DAB digital radio, compared to the UK average of 41%. The proportion of listening through a digital platform in Wales grew by 1.9 percentage points in 2012, lower than any other UK nation.
Commercial radio revenue per he
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...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
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...
Nearly a quarter of homes in Wales are shunning the traditional landline and using only mobile phones to make and receive phone calls at home, according to Ofcom research published today.
