Talk on the web cuts fixed line use

INTERNET use is on the up and more people are using it to talk.

The Office of Utility Regulation's Telecommunications Market Data Report, published yesterday, stated that there were 22,600 internet subscribers at the end of June 2009 – a 2% increase since the end of 2008.

Overall, the telecoms market grew by 7% in the year to June 2009, with an annual turnover of £78m.

Despite that, the number of minutes in the fixed telecoms market was down by 6% as competition from the mobile market and web services such as Skype increased.

Sure is the dominant internet operator, with 76% of subscribers.

Nonetheless, Airtel and Wave continue to gain customers from Sure in the mobile market. Each operator's share in the first half of last year was respectively 7%, 19% and 74%.

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