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Ofcom research shows smaller ISP market has turnover of 1.15 billion

Ofcom has published the results of research into the niche Internet Service Provider (ISP) market.

There are almost 700 service providers in this market, serving 30% of UK business customers and 5% of UK households with a combined turnover of 1.15 billion pounds.  The research focuses on ISPs with a small number of employees or a small number of residential customers. 

The research involved interviewing over 300 small ISPs and found the following:

• Niche ISPs offer a broad range of services from internet connectivity and web-hosting to consultancy
• More than half (54%) of niche ISPs surveyed claim their approach to service provision, offering personalised products rather than standard packages, give them an advantage over larger ISPs
• Around 9 in 10 (90%) of niche ISPs have 30 employees or fewer
• Niche ISPs are relatively geographically dispersed; more than half are based outside London and the South of England

The research was commissioned following requests from industry stakeholders.  Ofcom will use the data to assess ongoing wholesale broadband access market and BTs obligations to provide wholesale services to other ISPs.