UK Broadband Connections Near 17 Million

New figures from Ofcom have revealed that the number of UK broadband connections is nearing the 17 million mark.

The regulator’s latest Telecommunications Market data tables show that up to the end of Q3 last year, there were just over 16.9 million active residential and small business broadband lines in the UK.

The tables, which detail the broadband connections between 2006 and Q3 2008, show that during this period there were slight market share falls for industry leaders BT Retail and Virgin Media.

In the case of BT, this is largely due to the increase in broadband connections using local loop unbundling (LLU). These line connections are provided by the likes of TalkTalk and Sky who have installed their own equipment in the telephone exchange – meaning they can offer users discounted prices and so called ‘free’ broadband services.

In fact, as at the end of September 2008, there were 5.1 million local loop unbundling lines (LLU) in operation, compared to just 1.3 million back in 2006.

A reduction in broadband network expansion and increased competition from smaller providers are thought to have been the main drivers for Virgin Media’s market share reduction.