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Sunderland is UK digital TV capital

Sunderland has the highest number of digital TV households - more than any other nation or region of the UK, according to a new report from Ofcom.

A massive 96 per cent of households in the Wearside city now access digital TV services, the study from the watchdog revealed. Sunderland also came out top in the broadband league, with 66% of households accessing the internet via a high-speed connection.

This was not the only surprising find from the regional communications market report, which also revealed that rural areas of the UK are now better connected to broadband than their urban neighbours. It is the first time that rural take-up (at 59 per cent of households) has overtaken take-up in urban areas (at 57 per cent), the report said.

Ed Richards, Chief Executive at Ofcom said: “Our report highlights a closing of the geographic digital divide in the UK. Rural households are today as well connected to broadband, as their urban neighbours.”

He added: “The report also shows that across the UK, take-up of all communications services continues to grow with more people watching digital television and listening to DAB digital radio and consumers are benefiting from convergence and using new ways to access traditional services.”

The findings cover the take-up of a wide range of communication services across the UK, from broadband and television to social networking and VoIP telephone calls. View the UK summary of the report.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .