Ofcom predicts rapid fibre broadband growth

Ofcom has predicted "rapid" growth in the availability of fibre optic broadband connections over the coming year.

Steve Unger, chief technology officer at the regulator, said the number of super-fast broadband lines is likely to continue rising in the next year, along with data consumption.

An update on fibre broadband provision and data usage is set to be published by Ofcom in summer 2012, he revealed.

Mr Unger's comments came as the watchdog released figures that showed significant demand for data from UK broadband customers, with the average fixed-line subscriber consuming 17GB every month.

This usage is equivalent to streaming 12 hours of high-definition video content from the BBC iPlayer, or more than 12 full days of audio streaming.

Earlier this week, Point Topic predicted the number of fibre broadband lines in the UK will rise significantly over the next five years, with almost 60 per cent of customers set to enjoy speeds of at least 30Mbps by 2016.