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Technology data and insight firm FDM CCS Insight has today launched a new dataset (Network Panel) that claims to provide “unprecedented visibility into UK broadband market performance, regional trends and adoption of fibre to the premises (FTTP)“. The goal is to enable operators, investors and industry watchers to benchmark performance and identify emerging trends.
The Network Panel – using more than two years of historical data – is said to track connections and disconnections on all major fixed-line networks, including CityFibre, Openreach, Virgin Media (O2) and nexfibre, delivering visibility into market performance at a national and regional level.
For example, the data tracks weekly customer gains and losses across several broadband speed tiers (i.e. tracking shifting demand from sub-150 Mbps to gigabit broadband), providing monthly reporting across 11 Office for National Statistics (ONS) regions.
Example Findings in the Network Panel
➤ Connections taking a broadband package at 800 Mbps or higher grew by more than 75% year-on-year in five out of 11 ONS regions.
➤ Eight out of 11 ONS regions saw the number of 0-149 Mbps connections decline by over 20% in the past 12 months. Every region saw connections at this entry-level speed decline by at least 10%.
➤ 33% of connections in London were packages at 800 Mbps or greater. This was six percentage points higher than the second-placed ONS region, the South East, at 27%. This is driven by providers in London offering some of the lowest prices for higher-speed packages in the country, according to FDM CCS Insight’s Pricing Data. Note that London accounts for approximately 13% of the UK population.
➤ Despite having a lower volume of connections, the North East saw significant growth in high-speed sign-ups. Connections at 401-800 Mbps grew 42% year-on-year and packages offering 800 Mbps or higher increased 87%.
The eagle-eyed among you will note that Northern Ireland is not included, but this is currently only Phase One of the panel and N.I will be added in later iterations.
Hayden Shaw, Commercial Director at FDM CCS Insight, said:
“The traditional approach of measuring the UK broadband market as one homogenous entity no longer reflects the complex dynamics of this highly competitive market. Offering a granular geographic breakdown represents a significant step forward in the industry’s understanding of broadband market performance. This is particularly relevant at a time when altnets are aggressively targeting specific regions and causing significant disruption to the market landscape”.
Sadly, the announcement doesn’t include a link to the panel, so we’re unsure how useful it is or whether it’s even available to the wider public. The above data snapshot is thus all we get.