Talking has never been better value

Consumers are spending more time using communication services but are paying less for them, according to the industry regulator.

In its Annual 2008 Communications Market Review, Ofcom said people in the UK were spending an average of seven hours and nine minutes using their mobile phones and the internet. This is a six-minute increase on 2002 statistics.

It said mobile use had doubled to 10 minutes and PC and internet use had risen from six minutes to 24 minutes per day since 2002.

Peter Phillips, partner for strategy and marketing development at Ofcom, said: "We are spending more and more time with our communications devices but spending less on them.

"Our devotion to watching, listening and staying in touch wherever and whenever we want shows no sign of diminishing and, with healthy competition, overall prices offer increasing value for money."

Television remains the most popular medium, with the average person watching for three hours and 38 minutes per day.

Ofcom said digital video recorder ownership had doubled in 2007, with nearly six million households now using the technology.

But although people are using technology more, the prices they are paying have fallen. According to Ofcom, the average UK household spend on communications in 2007 was £93.63 a month – a fall of £1.53 from 2006 and £4.31 from 2004.

The regulator said this was thanks to lower costs for fixed line telephone calls and broadband services. More people are also taking advantage of bundle deals; where services such as television, fixed line telephony and broadband are sold together at a better price. The number of households buying three or more services this way has almost doubled from 18 per cent in 2006 to 32 per cent by March 2008.

People are also increasingly switching between providers in order to get the best deal. By March 2008, a third had switched their internet provider at least once, just over a third had switched their landline company and just under half had changed mobile provider.