UK broadband growth hit by economic slowdown

The UK broadband market has been hit by the economic slowdown, with new
broadband lines added in the third quarter falling 20 per cent below
expectation, according to research by Point Topic. The research group estimated that the UK broadband market grew by 313,000 lines in the three months to September, less than the expected 390,000 lines. Point Topic estimated that Virgin Media may have added about 60,000 lines in the period, with local-loop unbundlers adding 323,000. However, it said, BT and a number of smaller players lost about 70,000 lines in the same period.

Point Topic estimated that there will  be about 18.4m broadband lines in the UK by the end of the year, up 1.1m year-on-year.