The UK is a "digitally advanced nation" according to media
watchdog
Ofcom.
The proportion of UK households with digital TV on their main
set is 86%, up 9% on the previous year as the switch-over gets
underway. Almost a third of people say they own a digital video
recorder.
In the US 70% of households have a digital TV.
The ofcom report into the £876bn global communications market
also showed that consumers in the UK get a good deal when buying
communications services as competitive markets are driving prices
down. Consumers are also shopping around for good deals through
"bundling" - taking multiple services from single communications
providers.
Mobile
social networking has also started to take off - 800,000 mobile
subscribers in the UK and 4 million in the US access social
networking sites using their mobile devices.
People in the UK spend nearly 14 hours per week online, an
increase of nearly 6.5 hours a week in 2004, the highest increase
amongst the countries surveyed.
Average broadband take-up was 56% of households in 2007,
compared with 12% in 2002. The UK is above average, with 60% of
households connected.
The report compares the availability, take-up and use of
communications services in seven countries: the UK, France,
Germany, Italy, the USA, Canada and Japan. The report also includes
some information from other European countries: Poland, Spain, the
Netherlands, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.