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Q205 UK ISP Market Share Results

Point Topic has published market shares for the UK broadband market by ISP, for the end of the second quarter. The data, researched for Point Topic�s continuous UK broadband information service reveals slow but steady declines in share of the overall market for the BT brands and the cable companies, but rising shares for the larger consumer brands -- most notably AOL and Tiscali.

BT brands still dominate the market with something around 23 percent, followed by ntl with about 20 percent. AOL edged Telewest into third place at the turn of the year and AOL customers now represent an estimated 14 percent of the total market.

In the consumer market, the battle is being fought between two distinct groups of ISPs: BT brands and ntl is the market leading group, though ntl (including both cable and off-net DSL customers) holds the outright lead by a single percentage point. The second group sees four ISPs, AOL, Telewest, Tiscali and Wanadoo, in the running for third place and all have a flat or growing share of the market. Of these four, AOL is the dominant player and on current form it looks set to join the front runners by early next year.

Evidence from the BroadBand User Survey suggests that brand recogition is one reason why AOL is enjoying its current surge. Survey respondents were asked to name an ISP unprompted and AOL emerged as the top brand, with a third of all respondents naming AOL before any other. This figure rose as high as 43 percent in the �Young Singles and Sharers� category (single people aged between 16 and 34, living alone or in shared accommodation), with only BT brands coming close (26 percent).

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