At 30th September 2007 there were approximately 15.1 million fixed broadband subscribers in the UK and residential broadband penetration was approximately 54%. BT remains the country’s largest broadband provider supplying more than 4 million lines, while BSkyB remains the fastest growing ISP

The pay-TV business is performing well, helped by the ‘halo’ effect from broadband; we view the unexpectedly sharp drop in operating profit as a temporary result of record quarterly take-up of Sky+

On 4th October Ofcom issued its consultation document on Sky’s proposals to provide a broader and more comprehensive range of programming by replacing its three free-to-air channels on Freeview with its Picnic hamper of five pay-TV services, including the Sky Sports 1 and Sky Movies SD1, as part of a flexible digital television, broadband and telephony service

The distribution side was slightly weak again, but the prospects for the Christmas quarter are much better, with the iPhone exclusivity a big help even if its sales prove to be weak

BSkyB’s 17.9% shareholding in ITV is likely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the all-TV market, according to the provisional findings of the Competition Commission (CC) investigation announced on 2nd October 2007

Ofcom’s consultation document on Next Generation Access indicates a desire to avoid regulatory impediments to investment, not to force BT to act

The Apple iPhone will finally be available in the UK on 9th November, sold exclusively through Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse, and costing a hefty £269 when bought with a minimum £35 a month 18 month contract

Carphone Warehouse is seeking to position itself as an impartial guide to the broadband products from 6 different brands, although it is not selling the product sets of BT, Sky or Tiscali

The loss of Sky basic channels, strong competition and a maturing broadband market have combined to weaken Virgin Media’s top line results sufficiently to cause cash flow to decline

The distribution business was slightly weak despite good like-for-like store sales, due to the lower quality ‘off-the-page’ newspaper advertisement business being successfully cut back by the mobile operators