The International Communications Market Report
Source: data.gov.uk (2019-08-28)

This annual report provides comparative international data on the communications sector. The aim of the report is to benchmark the UK communications sector against a range of comparator countries in order to assess how the UK is performing in an international context. The report compares the availability, take-up and use of services in the UK and 17 comparator countries - France, Germany, Italy, the US, Japan, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Nigeria, although we focus on a smaller subset of comparator countries for some of our analysis.
This report is intended to be used in a number of ways: to benchmark the UK’s communications sector, to learn from market and regulatory developments in other countries, and to provide the context for Ofcom’s regulatory initiatives. It also contributes to the richness of the information we draw upon, better enabling us to understand how our actions and priorities can influence outcomes for citizens and consumers, and for communications markets generally.

The sectors covered include television and radio broadcasting; internet on-demand content; telecommunications and (since 2012) the postal market.

The final edition of the ICMR was in 2017.

103

International Communications
Market Report 2015

2

Comparative international pricing
2

104
Contents

Section

Page
Comparative international pricing
105
2.1
2.1.1
Introduction
105
2.1.2
Methodology
106
2.1.3
Stand-alone pricing, by service
111
2.1.4
Analysis of basket prices
119
2.1.5
Conclusion
134

105
Comparative international pricing
2.1
2.1.1 Introduction
In this section of the report we compare UK communications service prices to those in
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and a representative state of the US (we use Illinois as it is
broadly representative of the US as a whole in terms of wealth and rural-urban split).
Our methodology, which has been developed with pricing consultancy Teligen, is based on
the use of services by five ‘typical’ household profiles, and matches their usage
requirements to tariffs. It was developed to address the difficulties in comparing prices
caused by service bundling, tariff complexity and variations in average use across countries.
In order to reflect the full cost of ownership of the relevant services, it also takes into account
the cost of installation and hardware (including subsidies) and bundle discounts.
We include an overview of our methodology (which is required in order fully to understand
our findings), a summary of those findings by service, followed by analysis on a household-
by-household basis. The full methodology can be found in Annex B. The key findings of this
chapter include:

Overall, UK communications service prices compare favourably to those in the
other comparator countries. The UK ranked second in the overall pricing rank
(combining stand-alone, bundled and ‘lowest available’ prices) in 2015, behind
France. This was a fall of one place compared to 2014.

The UK’s average performance across all baskets and metrics was unchanged
since 2014. While the UK’s overall rank fell in 2015, its average rank across all of the
baskets and metrics used in the analysis was unchanged. In contrast, France’s
improved, resulting in it overtaking the UK in terms of its overall rank.

The UK was cheapest in terms of stand-alone pricing (i.e. when services are
not purchased in a bundle). The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone
prices for three of the five household usage profiles included in the analysis in 2015.

The cheapest stand-alone fixed broadband and mobile phone prices were both
found in the UK in 2015. UK fixed broadband prices fell slightly during the year, and
the UK had the cheapest mobile prices in 2015, despite prices having increased.

The UK performed less well in terms of fixed voice prices. The cheapest
available landline services for our households’ requirements were the most
expensive among the six countries included in the analysis in 2015, following an
increase in prices during the year.

France overtook the UK in terms of bundled service pricing in 2015. France had
the lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled service prices for three of our household
usage profiles, with the UK having the ‘lowest available’ price for one household.

In almost all cases, it was cheaper to purchase a bundle where the household
requires fixed broadband. In the UK, the average saving associated with buying a
bundle rather than stand-alone services was 18% across the three households that
include fixed broadband, the third-lowest proportion among our six countries.

The UK improved its ranking in terms of the 'lowest available' prices in 2015.
During the year, the UK overtook Italy to rank second after France, which offered the

106
‘lowest available’ prices for two of the five household usage profiles used in the
analysis in 2015 (as did the UK).
2.1.2 Methodology
The basic principles of the methodology used are as follows:
We constructed five household usage profiles, and for each of these defined an appropriate
basket of communications services (Figure 1.1). Taken together, the usage patterns of these
households were designed to be representative of average use across all the countries
analysed. This addressed the potential for biases associated with the household usage
profiles being more closely aligned with the usage profiles of some countries than of others.
Full details of the methodology can be found in Annex B.
We made some changes to the household usage profiles used in the analysis this year in
order to reflect changes in the use of communications services. This included increasing
assumed levels of fixed and mobile data use and decreasing SMS use across the household
profiles.

Summary of household usage profiles used in the analysis90
Figure 2.1
Source: Ofcom

90 Note: More detailed summaries of each basket’s usage requirements can be found in Figure 2.10,
Figure 2.14, Figure 2.18, Figure 2.21 and Figure 2.25.
‘Typical’
household
type
Summary
Fixed
voice
Mobile
voice
Mobile
messaging
Mobile
handset
data
Fixed line
broadband
Mobile
broadband Television
1
Basic
needs
A low use
household
with basic
needs
Medium
use
Low use
None
None
None
None
Free-to-
air
2
Late
adopters
A
broadband
household
with basic
needs
High use
Low use
Low use
Low use
Low use
None
Free-to-
air
3
A mobile
‘power
user’
A mobile-
only
household
None
High use
High use
High use
4G
None
High use
Basic
pay-TV
with DVR
4 Connected
family
A family
household
with
multiple
needs
Medium
use
Medium
use
High use
Medium
use
Medium
use
None
Basic
pay-TV
with HD
& DVR
5 Sophisticat
ed couple
An affluent
two person
household
Low use
Medium
use
Medium
use
Medium
use
High use
superfast
None
Premium
pay-TV
with HD
& DVR

107
We included a wide range of variables within the services in each household usage profile,
so that they represent actual use by consumers. For example:

Fixed voice minutes were distributed by whether they were to fixed or mobile lines,
by call distance (local, regional, national and international, including a range of
international destinations) and by time of day (day, evening, weekend). Non-
geographic calls were excluded from the analysis.

Mobile calls (and messaging) were split between fixed line, ‘on-net’ and ‘off-net’
mobiles, selected international destinations (for some users), and voicemail.

Call set-up costs and unit, per-second and per-minute charging were incorporated
where relevant, and a function for averaging cost for different of call lengths was
used, based on an approach used for price benchmarking by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Incoming calls to mobile phones were included, in recognition of the different
charging mechanism in the US.

The broadband components were defined both by minimum headline speed and by
minimum data requirements.

The television element included the licence fee and hardware cost. Because of
difficulties in comparing channels and their programmes, two tiers of pay-TV were
considered: the most basic pay service available, over and above the channels
available on free-to-air TV; and a premium service defined by high-definition
channels and a top-price film/entertainment package combined with the best
package of top-tier football matches (NFL in the US). For the most basic households
terrestrial TV services were considered.
The cost of mobile handsets, broadband modems and routers, digital set-top boxes and
DVRs were included in household usage profiles (and amortised over an appropriate period
in order to attribute a monthly cost). This was necessary because such equipment is often
inseparable from the service price, as operators frequently include subsidised or ‘free’
equipment (for example, a mobile handset or a WiFi modem/router), but seek to recoup the
cost of these devices from subscriptions and service payments across the life of a contract.
For similar reasons, we included connection and/or installation costs.
In July 2015, details of every tariff and every tariff combination (including bundled services)
from the three largest operators by retail market share in each country were collected (and
from more than three operators, if this was required to ensure that a minimum of 80% of the
overall market was represented). Bundled tariffs (i.e. those which incorporate more than one
service) were also collected. Only those tariffs which were published on operators’ websites
were included (i.e. the analysis excludes bespoke tariffs which are only offered to certain
customers).
Our model identified the tariffs that offer the lowest price for meeting the requirements of
each of the households, with all prices being converted to UK currency using purchasing
power parity (PPP) adjustment based on OECD comparative price levels and exchange
rates as at 1 July 2015.

108
Analysis
We undertook three types of analysis for each household usage profile:
‘Average stand-alone’ pricing: This is the average of the lowest stand-alone price for each
individual service offered by each operator in each country, weighted by their market shares.
This represents a change from the methodology used in previous years, when the average
were based only on the prices offered by the three largest providers of each service in each
country. Although it provides a useful comparison of the relative costs of communications
services, a limitation of this analysis is that an increasing number of providers do not offer
stand-alone services.
‘Average bundle’ pricing: This is the average of the lowest bundled service prices
(including separate stand-alone services where a bundle does not include all of the services
required by the household) offered by each operator that provides a suitable bundled tariff in
each country, weighted by their fixed broadband market shares. It is the first time that this
analysis has been included in the report, and it should be noted that fixed broadband shares
are used to weight the results regardless of whether or not the bundles in question include
fixed broadband.
‘Lowest available’ pricing: This was the lowest price that a consumer could pay for this
basket of services, including, where appropriate, ‘bundled’ services (i.e. buying more than
one service in a package, for example a ‘triple-play’ bundle consisting of fixed voice,
broadband and pay TV). This analysis is important in order to provide a true picture of the
position of consumers in each market, since they increasingly buy multiple services from
single operators. There are, however, two limitations to this type of analysis.
First, ‘bundled’ service offerings are typically not available to all consumers as they are often
limited to geographic areas where premises are connected either to a cable network or an
unbundled telephone exchange. Second, even in areas where these services are available,
take-up may be low. Therefore, although the ‘lowest available’ price provides insight into the
lowest prices available to some customers, it is not as good a reflection of the prices that
consumers are actually paying as the ‘weighted average’ analysis.
Limitations
We consider that a multi-platform, basket-based approach is the most useful way to
compare international pricing of communications services. Nevertheless, in addition to the
points raised above, there are some other limitations to our methodology, and the following
notes and caveats are important in interpreting the analysis below.

The analysis assumes a rational consumer with full understanding of their usage
requirements, who is prepared to shop around and undertake some complex
calculations to identify the best value tariff. In reality, many consumers do not act in
this way, and few will be on the lowest-cost combination of services for their usage
profile. However, the assumption is necessary in order to provide effective
international comparison.

In looking only at tariffs available from the largest operators in each country, lower
prices which might be available from smaller operators are not included.
Nevertheless, we believe that using the prices of the largest operators is appropriate,
both because they are the best reflection of the general consumer experience and
because their pricing both defines, and is defined by, the competitive environment in
which they operate.

109

Although we have been as comprehensive as possible, tariffs are often highly
complicated and there are some components that we have been unable to
incorporate into our model. For example, some benefits are available only to certain
types of consumers, such as BT Basic in the UK, which offers lower-price line rental
to low-income consumers in receipt of certain benefits.

In order to calculate the weighted average, we have used market share calculations
based on operators’ retail customers. Market share calculations are based on the
overall subscriber base, not the subscriber base for the particular tariff (for which
figures were not available). In addition, the ‘average bundle’ pricing calculation uses
providers’ fixed broadband market shares, regardless of whether or not the bundle
includes fixed broadband.

Pay-TV services are a component of three of the household usage profiles we
examined. However, it has not been possible to compare like-for-like subscriptions,
principally because of differences in the composition of basic and premium channels
across the six countries. As a consequence, quantitative comparison of international
TV pricing is arguably less meaningful than for telecoms services. This is also an
issue in the pricing of ‘triple-play’ services, where there is wide variation in the types
of TV content.

For television services there are only two operators with nationwide coverage and/or
significant market share in some countries (or only one, for some premium TV
offerings). In these instances, we have identified the cheapest tariff from each of
them and calculated a blended average based on their market shares.

Some services (e.g. LLU-based fixed telecoms services) are not available nationally,
and some providers operate only in certain areas. This is particularly true for services
that are available only where local exchanges have been unbundled, and for IPTV,
which requires a high-speed broadband connection. But it is also true for cable TV
and all types of broadband.

We have not defined whether the mobile phone component in a household usage
profile is pre-pay or post-pay. We believe this enables better international
comparison, given the very different pre-pay/ post-pay splits in different countries (for
example, over 75% of mobile connections in Italy, but less than 20% in France, are
pre-pay). However, a consequence of this is that the analysis does not recognise the
different characteristics of the services; for example, a pre-pay mobile may be the
only option available to consumers with a poor credit rating and may also offer
advantages to those whose use varies from month to month.

Representative pricing in the US as a whole is difficult, due to large regional
variations as a result of local incumbent telecoms operators and cable operators
offering localised prices for fixed-line services. We used tariffs available within the
state of Illinois, which we chose because it is broadly representative of the US as a
whole in terms of wealth and rural-urban split. Nevertheless, the US pricing data
included in this report should not necessarily be viewed as representative of the
whole country.

In order to ensure that the changes we identify within countries have been driven by
changes in the market (rather than simply by changes in the currency exchange
rate), we have used the same PPP-adjusted exchange rate in 2015 and applied it to
2014 data. This means that there may be some distortions in the relative positions of
countries compared to the findings we reported in 2014. The prices are reported in
nominal terms.

110
Report structure
We start the analysis by looking at the individual components of our five household usage
profiles, in order to compare the relative prices of services across these countries, both in
terms of the lowest prices available when they are purchased on a stand-alone basis, and
the ‘weighted average’ stand-alone cost across the largest operators in each market.
Then we look in more depth at the cost of fulfilling the requirements of each of our household
usage profiles, in terms of the ‘weighted average’ stand-alone and bundle prices in each
nation, and also the ‘lowest available’ price.

111
2.1.3 Stand-alone pricing, by service
Fixed voice summary
Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3 show the stand-alone prices of the fixed-line voice components of
those household usage profiles that include a fixed-line phone. In the UK, BT was the only
provider included in the database that offered stand-alone fixed voice services in July 2014
and July 2015, resulting in the UK’s ‘weighted average’ and ‘lowest available’ stand-alone
prices being identical.91
The UK had the third lowest total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone prices for the four fixed
voice connections in 2015 (Figure 2.2).92 The lowest overall prices were found in the US,
which was the only one of the six countries where prices fell between 2014 and 2015; down
by 11%, largely as a result of Comcast introducing new tariffs. Among our other countries,
increases in the total weighted-average price in 2015 ranged from 2% in France to 14% in
Italy (in the UK it was 12%, the second largest increase recorded during the year).
BT’s Home Phone Saver service was the cheapest UK tariff for all four of our households’
connections (with an additional Friends & Family International call add-on for the two higher-
use connections). A fixed broadband service cannot be used in conjunction with this tariff
and neither can line rental pre-payment (which is available on BT’s standard line rental
services and results in a saving of 10% compared to paying monthly).

‘Weighted average’ stand-alone fixed-line voice pricing
Figure 2.2

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of cheapest tariff from each operator by market share in each country; July
2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
The US also had the cheapest total ‘lowest available’ price for the four fixed voice
connections required by our household usage profiles in 2015, following a 6% fall in the total
during the year (Figure 2.3). The highest total ‘lowest available’ price for these connections

91 Sky also offers stand-alone fixed voice services but these are excluded from the analysis as they
are not offered on its website, and there are other UK operators of stand-alone landline services that
are not included in the Teligen model.
92 In a change to previous years’ reports, the ‘weighted average’ prices in this report have been
calculated using the cheapest tariffs offered by all of the providers included in the Teligen pricing
model that offered a suitable service. Previously, the calculation of these had only included the lowest
prices offered by the largest three providers in each country.
23
26
28
28
27
28
27
29
25
26
26
27
24
28
32
32
30
32
29
30
29
30
29
27
21
24
23
24
23
24
23
26
21
22
23
19
21
23
19
20
20
21
18
25
20
21
21
15
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
Household 5
(100 mins)
Household 4
(200 mins)
Household 2
(400 mins)
Household 1
(300 mins)
UK
3
GER
5
FRA
4
ESP
2
ITA
6
USA
1
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

112
in 2015 was in the UK, where BT is the only provider included in the pricing model that offers
stand-alone fixed voice services.
In the US, the same Comcast service (XFinity Voice Unlimited Saver) was the base tariff for
the ‘lowest available’ price for the three higher-use connections, with AT&T providing the
‘lowest available’ price for the lower-use connection (requiring 100 minutes of outgoing calls
per month). Aggregate ‘lowest-available’ prices increased in all of the other countries during
the year, ranging from a 1% increase in Spain to a 34% increase in Italy, where prices
increased as a result of Tele Tu’s Parla Facile tariff (which was the cheapest service for all
four connections in Italy in 2014) being withdrawn, following its acquisition by Vodafone. In
the UK, the total ‘lowest available’ price for all four connections increased by 12% during the
year.

‘Lowest available’ stand-alone fixed-line voice pricing
Figure 2.3

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
Mobile summary
Our five household usage profiles include eight mobile phone connections with differing
usage profiles, ranging from low use with a basic handset, to high use with an advanced
handset. These eight connections (summarised in Figure 2.4 below) also vary in terms of the
distribution of call and messaging volumes (e.g. the proportion of calls which are to national
mobiles, to national geographic numbers or to international numbers), and for the first time in
the analysis we have included the requirement for a 4G service for some connections.
23
26
25
26
14
17
15
22
21
21
18
18
24
28
29
30
16
19
15
22
24
24
18
18
21
24
21
22
12
15
15
19
14
15
17
17
21
23
18
19
11
14
15
18
13
14
15
12
0
20
40
60
80
100
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
Household 5
(100 mins)
Household 4
(200 mins)
Household 2
(400 mins)
Household 1
(300 mins)
UK
6
GER
2
FRA
5
ESP
3
ITA
4
USA
1
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

113

Summary of mobile connections used in the analysis
Figure 2.4

Source: Ofcom
Our analysis shows that the UK had the lowest overall ‘weighted average’ price for the eight
mobile connections in 2015, despite a 12% increase in the total price during the year (Figure
2.5).93
Weighted average prices increased for six of the eight connections used in the analysis in
the UK during the year; the largest increases were for those connections that required a
premium handset and 4G services (Connections 5, 7 and 8). For all three of these
connections, prices increased for all of the providers whose tariffs were included in the UK
‘weighted average’ calculation. As was the case in 2014, the US (which has high average
use and where mobile users are also charged for incoming calls) had the highest total
‘weighted average’ price for the eight connections included in the analysis in 2015, despite a
3% fall in the total price during the year. Italy and Germany were the only other countries
where the total ‘weighted average’ price of these connections fell in 2015, down by 2% and
less than 1% respectively.
In the UK, 30 of the 45 tariffs (67%) feeding into the average best-pricing analysis were SIM-
only contracts, down from 76% in 2014 (where a tariff is SIM-only, our model factors in the
cost of buying a mobile handset separately and amortises it over three years)94. This
proportion was much higher than in the other comparator countries, where it ranged from 4%
(one tariff) in Spain to 38% (12 tariffs) in France and the US. This suggests that SIM-only
tariffs may be more attractive to consumers in the UK than elsewhere. The proportion of pay-
as-you-go tariffs feeding into the UK weighted averages increased from 11% to 24% in 2015.
This remained one of the lower proportions across our comparator countries, with only

93 Shifting UK mobile market shares meant that Tesco Mobile’s tariffs were included in the analysis for
the first time in 2015. Excluding Tesco Mobile from the analysis shows that the total ‘weighted
average’ price of the eight connections increased by 14% in 2015, and remained the lowest among
our six countries.
94 We amortise the cost of mobile handsets over three years, as mobile users frequently keep existing
handsets for longer than their minimum contract term (for example, to take advantage of low-cost
SIM-only tariffs) or give an old handset to a family member or friend who continues to use it.
Basket
Handset type
Outbound
voice minutes
per month
Outbound
SMS per
month
Data use per
month
4G required
Connection 1
Household 1
handsets 1 & 2
Basic
50
None
None
No
Connection 2
Household 2
handsets 1 & 2
Basic
50
25
100MB
No
Connection 3
Household 4
handset 2
Intermediate
150
200
300MB
No
Connection 4
Household 4
handset 1
Intermediate
250
100
400MB
No
Connection 5
Household 5
handset 2
Premium
200
50
500MB
Yes
Connection 6
Household 4
handsets 3 & 4
Intermediate
100
250
2GB
No
Connection 7
Household 5
handset 1
Premium
300
150
1GB
Yes
Connection 8
Household 3
handset 1
Premium
500
200
5GB
Yes

114
France having a lower proportion of pre-pay tariffs (at 13%). This proportion was highest in
Italy, at 82%, followed by the US (at 66%).

‘Weighted average’ stand-alone mobile pricing
Figure 2.5

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value tariff from each of the largest operators by market share in
each country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
The total ‘lowest available’ price of our eight connections fell in three of the six countries in
2015: Germany, the US and Italy (down by 11%, 2% and 1% respectively). The largest
increase in the total ‘lowest available price’ for these connections during the year was a 27%
increase in France, which was to a large extent the result of increasing premium handset
prices. These price increases in France meant that the UK had the lowest overall price in
2015, despite a 4% increase during the year (Figure 2.6). In the UK, just one of the eight
‘lowest available’ prices was offered by a mobile network operator (MNO) in 2015, with EE
having the ‘lowest available’ price for Connection 7. All of the other seven ‘lowest available’
prices were offered by MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), with Tesco Mobile offering
six of the eight ‘lowest available’ prices and Virgin Mobile one (for Connection 2).95

95 Shifting UK mobile market shares meant that Tesco Mobile’s tariffs were included in the analysis for
the first time in 2015. Excluding Tesco Mobile from the analysis shows that the total weighted average
price of the eight connections increased by 12% in 2015, and remained the lowest among our six
countries.
9
8
7
8
10
9
12
10
13
12
26
27
9
9
10
10
14
12
14
14
15
15
31
32
16
17
20
24
32
35
27
30
30
38
41
41
28
31
29
28
43
41
36
33
44
57
64
54
28
35
0
41
45
0
49
55
0
49
48
0
47
51
0
57
62
23
21
0
22
23
0
51
37
0
35
39
0
40
39
0
53
49
44
54
0
52
49
0
66
83
0
63
60
0
64
80
0
74
69
54
64
0
53
59
0
93
88
0
89
83
0
97
93
0
104
102
0
100
200
300
400
500
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
Connection 1 (50mins, 0
SMS, 0GB data)
Connection 2 (50mins, 25
SMS, 0.1GB data)
Connection 3 (150mins,
200 SMS, 0.3GB data)
Connection 4 (250mins,
100 SMS, 0.4GB data)
Connection 5 (200mins,
50 SMS, 0.5GB 4G data)
Connection 6 (100mins,
250 SMS, 2GB data)
Connection 7 (300mins,
150 SMS, 1GB 4G data)
Connection 8 (500mins,
200 SMS, 5GB 4G data)
UK
GER
FRA
ESP
ITA
USA
Average monthly price (£)
1
4
2
5
3
6
2015
rank

115

‘Lowest available’ stand-alone mobile pricing
Figure 2.6

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
Fixed-line broadband summary
It is difficult to compare stand-alone fixed broadband prices, as:

Fixed broadband is frequently bought as part of a bundle of services from a single
supplier (meaning that analysis of stand-alone prices is not representative of the
prices paid by many consumers).

Most fixed broadband services require a landline (although this may not be the case
for cable broadband and ‘naked DSL’ and ‘naked-fibre’, which is offered by some
operators in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and the US).

Many ISPs no longer offer stand-alone fixed broadband services, so the analysis is
often based on only a few tariffs in each country.
The limited availability of stand-alone fixed broadband services in some countries (including
the UK) means that we only consider ‘lowest available’ fixed broadband prices in this report.
The stand-alone fixed broadband pricing analysis below excludes telephone line rental, even
if this is required (instead, it is included in the fixed voice element of the household usage
profiles in question). The inclusion of line rental in this analysis would increase the cost of
fixed broadband services in countries which do not have significant naked ADSL/fibre
availability, including the UK. In addition, we include the price of the incumbent providers’
fixed broadband services in the analysis, even if these are not available on a stand-alone
basis.
The fixed broadband connections included in our household usage profiles are defined by
the advertised ‘up to’ speed of the connection, and the monthly volume of data use required.
As was the case in 2014, the UK had the cheapest ‘lowest available’ stand-alone prices for
all three of the fixed broadband connections in 2015, while the highest prices were in Spain
and the US (Figure 2.7). The ‘lowest available’ price of the superfast product (i.e. with an
advertised speed of ‘up to’ 30Mbit/s or higher), required by Household 5, increased by £2
4
4
2
2
7
6
7
7
10
10
13
13
8
6
4
4
13
10
8
10
12
11
26
30
12
9
16
20
22
28
26
22
23
29
39
35
22
15
26
25
34
25
24
16
42
43
56
46
24
33
0
30
42
0
43
52
0
41
41
0
44
43
0
55
56
14
15
0
18
20
0
45
33
0
31
27
0
39
34
0
41
42
35
39
0
30
42
0
61
61
0
47
48
0
47
61
0
64
64
45
51
0
30
43
0
90
65
0
73
82
0
67
75
0
80
81
0
100
200
300
400
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
Connection 1 (50mins, 0
SMS, 0GB data)
Connection 2 (50mins, 25
SMS, 0.1GB data)
Connection 3 (150mins,
200 SMS, 0.3GB data)
Connection 4 (250mins,
100 SMS, 0.4GB data)
Connection 5 (200mins,
50 SMS, 0.5GB 4G data)
Connection 6 (100mins,
250 SMS, 2GB data)
Connection 7 (300mins,
150 SMS, 1GB 4G data)
Connection 8 (500mins,
200 SMS, 5GB 4G data)
UK
GER
FRA
ESP
ITA
USA
Average monthly price (£)
1
5
2
4
3
6
2015
rank

116
per month (15%) to £19 per month in 2015, as a result of the Tesco Broadband fibre service
(the cheapest option in 2014) no longer being available, leaving the more expensive BT
service (Unlimited Infinity 1) as the cheapest on offer. Conversely, the price of the BT fixed
broadband service which offered the ‘lowest available’ price for the two slower connections
(Unlimited Broadband) fell by 15% to £12 per month in 2015, due to the availability of a
bigger discount than was offered in 2014, and despite the service’s standard price having
increased by £2 to £18 per month during the year. This reflects a wider trend: promotional
discounting has become a more important part of UK fixed broadband pricing in recent
years.
The total ‘lowest available’ price of the broadband connections increased in four of our six
comparator countries in 2015, ranging from a 4% increase in France to a 21% increase in
Germany (there was also a notable 19% increase in Spain during the year). In the UK, the
total ‘lowest available’ price fell by 4% in 2015, a slightly lower rate than the 5% decline
recorded in Italy.

‘Lowest available’ stand-alone fixed broadband pricing
Figure 2.7

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
Mobile broadband summary
For some consumers, a mobile broadband connection can be used as a substitute for fixed
broadband services. One of our five household usage profiles (Household 3) is mobile-only
and uses a dedicated mobile broadband connection to connect its computer to the internet
(using a ‘dongle’ or data-only SIM).96
In the analysis below we do not include smartphone tariffs: we only include dedicated data-
only mobile broadband connections which are used to provide a mobile broadband
connection to computers. We do not consider whether or not the service bundle includes use
of public WiFi hotspots. In addition, we consider only the ‘lowest available’ service, as the
relatively small number of available tariffs in some countries makes it difficult to produce
meaningful ‘weighted average’ mobile broadband pricing analysis.

96 Where a service is SIM-only, we factor in the price of a mobile broadband dongle separately (even
if a service is intended to be used in another device, such as a tablet computer) and amortise it over
three years. We do this to enable a like-for-like comparison with those services that include a dongle
as part of the service.
14
12
17
18
17
19
21
24
32
38
28
26
14
12
17
18
17
24
27
24
32
38
28
30
16
19
36
36
22
25
27
24
32
38
34
38
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
≥30Mbit/s,
100GB data
>10Mbit/s,
50GB data
>5Mbit/s,
25GB data
UK
1
GER
2
FRA
4
ESP
6
ITA
3
USA
5
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

117
Household 3 includes a connection which requires 5GB of 4G data used over 30 days in a
month. In order to be able to compare a wider range of mobile broadband use, we also
include two lower-use connections in the analysis below: a medium-use connection requiring
3GB of 3G data over 25 days per month, and a low-use connection requiring 1GB of 3G use
over ten days.
Italy had the ‘lowest available’ stand-alone prices for dedicated data-only mobile broadband
services in 2015, as in 2014 (Figure 2.8). The UK had the third cheapest ‘lowest available’
mobile broadband prices in 2015, after Italy and France.
The price of the lowest-use connection was unchanged in the UK in 2015; the cheapest tariff
for this connection (requiring 1GB of 3G use per month) was Three’s Pay as you Go + 12GB
service, which offered 12GB of data that could be used over a year, plus a 3G dongle, for an
up-front price of £84.99. The ‘lowest available’ price of the medium-use connection fell by £1
per month to £14 in the UK in 2015, due to the inclusion of Tesco Mobile’s tariffs in the
analysis model for the first time (the cheapest tariff, offering 3GB of 3G data in 2015, was its
3GB SIM-Only 12 Months service with a separately bought dongle modem).97 The ‘lowest
available’ price for the highest-use connection (requiring 5GB of 4G data per month)
increased by £1 per month to £17, due to Three withdrawing a tariff offering 5GB of 4G data
per month (the cheapest option in 2014), leaving O2’s 4G Mobile Broadband 6GB service as
the cheapest option for this usage profile.
The total of the ‘lowest available’ prices of the three connections fell in all but two of our
comparators in 2015: the exceptions were Germany (where the total was unchanged) and
the US (where it increased by 38%). The declines in the total price recorded in our other
comparator countries ranged from 1% in the UK to 18% in Spain, where the drop was mainly
due to a fall in the price of the cheapest available tariff for the high-use 4G connection.

‘Lowest available’ stand-alone mobile broadband pricing
Figure 2.8

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
Pay-TV summary
It is challenging to produce like-for-like comparisons of TV packages, as a result of
differences in the number and types of channels provided by different services. In our
analysis we have used the following definitions:

97 Excluding Tesco Mobile’s tariffs, the price of this connection was unchanged in 2015.
7
7
9
7
12
14
5
5
11
11
12
15
15
14
13
13
20
19
5
5
25
22
20
28
16
17
15
13
28
28
13
9
31
22
29
40
0
20
40
60
80
100
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
5GB 4G
per
month
3GB 3G
per
month
1GB 3G
per
month
UK
3
GER
4
FRA
2
ESP
5
ITA
1
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

118

Basic pay-TV is the lowest subscription required to receive channels that are not
available over free-to-view services.

Premium pay-TV is the subscription required to receive the best package of both top-
flight football (NFL in the US) and a top film/entertainment package.
Our analysis includes TV licence fees, where applicable. These were highest in Germany in
2015, at £17 per month (there is no TV licence fee in the US, and in Spain it is not a fixed
amount and is embedded in the electricity bill, meaning that it is not visible to the consumer).
As with fixed and mobile broadband services, we consider only stand-alone ‘lowest
available’ TV service pricing in this section; it is difficult to produce meaningful ‘weighted
average’ stand-alone pricing analysis because of the relatively low number of services
available in most countries.
The ‘lowest available’ retail stand-alone prices for the two basic pay-TV services included in
our analysis, both of which require a DVR, and one of which also needs high-definition (HD)
content, were both in Italy in 2015 (Figure 2.9). For both connections, the ‘lowest available’
tariff in Italy was Telecom Italia’s TIM Vision (with decoder) IPTV service, which offered 14
basic channels and one premium channel for €10 per month (reduced to €5 per month for
one month). The UK had the third-cheapest ‘lowest available’ stand-alone price for the basic
pay-TV service without HD, and was second-cheapest for the HD basic pay-TV service in
2015. In both cases, this was Virgin Media’s More TV with TiVo 500GB (offering 116 basic
channels) for £18 a month.
It is difficult to compare the prices of premium pay-TV packages, because of the variations in
content in these packages. The UK’s ‘lowest available’ premium pay-TV service in 2015
(Sky’s Original Bundle + Sky Sports & Movies with Sky+ HD Box) included 374 basic
channels and 18 premium channels, almost ten times as many as the cheapest service in
France (CanalSat’s Les Chaines Canal+ par TNT service). As such, there was wide variation
in the ‘lowest available’ prices for the premium HD pay-TV service required by Household 5,
ranging from £24 per month in France to £76 per month in the US (the UK had the third-
highest price for these services in 2015, at £55 per month).
A comparatively expensive ‘lowest available’ HD premium pay-TV price, and the relatively
high TV licence fee in the UK meant that, when the TV licence fee was included in the
analysis, the UK had the third-highest total ‘lowest available’ price for the TV services
included in our household profiles, after the US and Spain. The total UK ‘lowest available’
price for the three pay-TV services (including the TV licence) fell by 2% in the UK in 2015;
France and Italy were the only other countries where the total price fell during the year (by
13% and 12% respectively).
The increases in the other comparator countries ranged from 1% in Germany to 57% in the
US, where the prices of both the basic pay-TV services more than doubled as a result of
Frontier increasing the price of its Dish America Top 120 service (which was the cheapest
option for both basic pay-TV services in the US in 2014), resulting in more expensive
competitor services being the ‘lowest available’ priced options in 2015.

119

‘Lowest available’ stand-alone pay-TV pricing
Figure 2.9

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Basic pay-TV is defined as the minimum price required to purchase a pay-TV package which
includes channels not available over free-to-air TV; premium TV is defined as the best package of
top-league football (NFL in the US) and a top price film/entertainment package; lowest tariff available
for the pay-TV component of each household usage profile from any of the largest operators by
market share in each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
2.1.4 Analysis of basket prices
Having provided an overview of findings on a stand-alone basis, we now look at the prices of
baskets of communications services, which are designed to be representative of five
household types.
Household 1: a low-use household with basic needs
Our first basket contains a usage pattern typical of a retired low-income couple who have a
fixed line from which they make five hours of calls a month (Figure 2.10). Both have a mobile
phone from which they make 50 minutes of calls per month, but they do not send any SMS
messages or use any mobile data services. They watch free-to-air multichannel digital
television, which is available in all of our comparator countries.

Composition of Household 1
Figure 2.10

Source: Ofcom
Weighted ‘average stand-alone’ prices
The lowest ‘weighted average’ cost of fulfilling the requirements of Household 1 in 2015 was
in Spain at £50 a month, a £2 per month 4%) fall since 2014 (Figure 2.11). The UK ‘weighted
average’ stand-alone price was £54 per month, the second lowest in 2015 and a 1%
increase on the previous year.
17
19
22
24
16
16
11
9
35
36
17
39
17
19
22
24
22
23
11
9
35
36
17
43
63
55
40
24
29
30
38
34
56
66
67
76
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
0
50
100
150
200
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
Licence fee
Premium pay-TV
with HD & DVR
Basic pay-TV with
HD & DVR
Basic pay-TV with
DVR
UK
4
GER
3
FRA
2
ESP
5
ITA
1
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank
Fixed-line voice
Fixed broadband
Mobile
Mobile broadband
Television
300 call minutes
None
Connection 1
50 call minutes
Connection 2
50 call minutes
None
Free-to-air

120
The ‘weighted average’ price of the fixed voice element of this household’s basket ranged
from £26 per month in the UK and Spain to £29 per month in Italy among our comparator
countries in 2015. The ‘weighted average’ stand-alone fixed voice price increased in all of
our comparator countries in 2015, ranging from a <1% increase in the US to a 13% increase
in the UK, due to BT increasing the price of its Home Phone Saver Friends & Family
International service.
France and the US were the only comparator countries in which the ‘weighted average’ cost
of fulfilling this household’s mobile requirements increased in 2015 (by 13% and 4%
respectively). Among the other comparator countries the percentage falls ranged from 10%
in Germany to 15% in the UK, where the decline was the result of falling prices for the
household’s two low-use connections across all the providers included in the average
calculation. As Household 1 includes only free-to-air TV services, the main driver of the cost
of the TV component of the basket is the TV licence fee (although not in Spain and the US,
where there is no licence fee). As the basket does not include pay-TV services, the only
other TV cost is that related to equipment purchase and installation (we include the cost of a
set-top box/decoder, but not the cost of the television).

Household 1: ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing
Figure 2.11
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value stand-alone tariff from each operator by market share in each
country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
Weighted ‘average bundle’ prices
The UK had the second-lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled service price for Household 1 in
2015, at £51 per month. The lowest price was in France (£45 per month) and the highest in
the US, at £84 (Figure 2.12). The average bundled price for Household 1’s usage profile fell
in four of our six countries in 2015, ranging from a 1% drop in the UK to a 26% decline in
France; to a large extent this was the result of Orange (one of the more expensive providers
in 2014) no longer offering a service that suited this household’s requirements. In all of our
comparator countries apart from Spain and the US, the total ‘weighted average’ bundle price
for Household 1’s use was lower than the total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price.
23
26
28
28
27
28
27
29
25
26
26
27
18
15
14
16
19
17
24
20
27
24
52
54
1
1
1
1
1
1
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
53
54
52
55
64
63
59
58
52
50
79
82
0
20
40
60
80
100
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV inc.
hardware
Mobile
Fixed voice
UK
2
GER
5
FRA
3
ESP
1
ITA
4
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

121

Household 1: ‘weighted average’ bundled service pricing
Figure 2.12
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value bundled tariff from each operator by market share in each
country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted

‘Lowest available’ pricing
‘Lowest available’ pricing analysis shows the lowest possible cost of fulfilling the household’s
usage requirements, using the tariffs of the largest providers in each country, including
bundles.
France had the cheapest ‘lowest available’ price to fulfil the requirements of Household 1 in
2015, at £41 a month. This was a £1 a month (2%) higher than in 2014, largely due to an
increase in the price of the fixed voice element of the household’s use (Figure 2.13). The UK
was the second most expensive overall, at £45 per month (£3 higher than in 2014).
The UK was the only comparator country in which the ‘lowest available’ priced option to fulfil
the household’s fixed-line use included a fixed broadband connection, even though the
basket does not require one, as buying this bundle was less expensive than the lowest-cost
voice-only service. The cheapest combination of services included EE’s Broadband &
Anytime + Mobile Calls (LRS) service, and was £2 per month cheaper than the cheapest
stand-alone fixed voice service for the household’s usage profile. The UK had the second-
cheapest ‘lowest available’ price for the household’s mobile use, at £9 per month; among the
other comparator countries the ‘lowest available’ monthly mobile price ranged from £4 in
France to £26 in the US.
The cost of the television component of the household’s basket is unchanged from the
‘weighted average’ stand-alone price in the ‘lowest available’ analysis, as it includes free-to-
air television, where the only costs are the licence fee, hardware and installation.
51
61
64
55
59
76
51
45
61
57
57
84
0
20
40
60
80
100
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
2014
2015
Average monthly price (£)
2
1
5
3
4
6
2015 rank

122

Household 1: ‘lowest available’ pricing
Figure 2.13

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted; where a service is included in a bundle any
additional usage charges are recorded separately against the relevant service
Household 2: A broadband household with basic needs
The second basket is representative of a couple of ‘late adopters’ who are fairly heavy users
of the fixed-line phone, have a basic fixed broadband connection, and who both have a
mobile phone that they use occasionally for voice and SMS (Figure 2.14).

Composition of Household 2
Figure 2.14

Source: Ofcom
Weighted ‘average stand-alone’ prices
The lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price of fulfilling the usage requirements of
Household 2 was in the UK in 2015, at £71 a month, a £1 per month (2%) increase since
2014 (Figure 2.15). The total ‘weighted average’ price of this household’s basket increased
in all of our other comparator countries during the year except in Germany (where it fell by
12% as a result of falling fixed broadband and mobile prices) and in France (where it was
unchanged).
The fixed-line voice requirement of this basket consists mainly of daytime calls to fixed-line
phones within the same country, so it favours tariffs which include these call types within the
monthly fee. This was the case with the BT service, which was the sole tariff contributing to
the UK ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price in the UK in 2015, Unlimited Anytime Plan
(LRS) + Friends & Family International (as BT is the only UK provider whose stand-alone
24
23
25
26
14
17
15
22
21
21
18
18
7
9
4
4
14
12
14
14
20
20
27
26
1
1
1
1
1
1
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
43
45
40
41
46
46
38
44
41
41
46
45
0
10
20
30
40
50
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV hardware
Mobile
Fixed broadband
Fixed voice
Fixed voice & bb
access
UK
5
GER
6
FRA
1
ESP
2
ITA
3
USA
4
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank
Fixed-line voice
Fixed broadband
Mobile
Mobile broadband
Television
400 call minutes
Minimum 5Mbit/s
headline speed
25GB data
Connection 1
50 call minutes
25 SMS
100MB data
Connection 2
100 call minutes
25 SMS
50MB data
None
Free-to-air

123
fixed voice services are included in the pricing model). This was the second-cheapest
among the countries in our analysis, at £28 a month (the US was £1 a month cheaper). The
UK average fixed voice price represents a £3 a month (12%) increase compared to 2014,
the largest proportional rise recorded among our comparator countries.
The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ price for the fixed broadband element of
Household 2’s basket in 2015 in 2015 at £12 a month, £2 per month less than in 2014,
mainly as a result of BT offering a greater discount on its Unlimited Broadband ADSL
service. Across the other comparator countries, the change in the ‘weighted average’ ‘stand-
alone’ price for the fixed broadband element of the basket in 2015 ranged from an £11 per
month (31%) fall in Germany to an £11 per month (36%) increase in Spain.
The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price for the mobile element of the
household’s basket (two handsets with low voice, SMS and data use), at £19 per month, a
1% increase on 2014. The highest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone mobile prices were in the
US in 2015, at £64 a month, a 3% increase on 2014.
This household uses the same basic free-to-air television service as Household 1.

Household 2: ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing
Figure 2.15
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value tariff from each of the largest operators by market share in
each country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
Weighted ‘average bundle’ prices
As was the case with Household 1, the UK had the second-lowest ‘weighted average’
bundled price for Household 2 in 2015, after France (Figure 2.16). The UK was one of three
of our six comparator countries in which the ‘weighted average’ bundle price for Household
2’s usage profile fell in 2015, with these falls ranging from a 1% fall in Germany to 28% in
France (in the UK, the decline was 10%). The total ‘weighted average’ bundle price of
Household 2’s usage requirements was lower than the total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone
price in all of our comparator countries in 2015, suggesting that, in general, it is cheaper to
buy bundled than stand-alone services for this usage profile.
25
28
32
32
30
32
29
30
29
30
29
27
14
12
21
21
35
24
25
28
32
43
29
33
19
19
21
20
29
24
28
28
31
31
62
64
1
1
1
1
1
1
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
69
71
84
84
112
98
91
94
91
104
121 126
0
50
100
150
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV hardware
Mobile
Fixed
broadband
Fixed voice
UK
1
GER
5
FRA
2
ESP
5
ITA
3
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

124

Household 2: ‘weighted average’ bundled service pricing
Figure 2.16
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value bundled tariff from each operator by market share in each
country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted

‘Lowest available’ pricing
The cheapest ‘lowest available’ price required to fulfil Household 2’s usage requirements
was in France in 2015, at £47 a month (Figure 2.17). The UK had the second cheapest
‘lowest available’ price, at £48; this was £4 (8%) lower than in 2014.
In all of our comparator countries, the ‘lowest available’ priced combination of services
involved buying more than one service from the same provider. In the UK, France, Germany
and Italy this was a dual-play fixed voice and fixed broadband bundle; in Spain it was a
triple-play bundle of fixed voice, fixed broadband and mobile services and in the US it was a
bundle of mobile and mobile broadband services (which cost the same as buying the
included mobile service on its own).
In the UK, the ‘lowest available’ tariff included an EE bundle of fixed voice and fixed
broadband services, Broadband & Anytime + Mobile Calls (LRS), which had a promotional
discount of £10 a month on its standard monthly fee (£28.70) for six months. The lowest-
priced mobile service for each of the mobile connections in the UK was a SIM-only Virgin
Mobile tariff (SIM-Only 250 Mins) which cost £6 per month for each connection (£1 of which
related to the price of the handset). This was £2 per connection (27%) cheaper than the
‘lowest available’ tariff in 2014 (also offered by Virgin Mobile), and resulted in the decline in
the total ‘lowest available’ price for Household 2 in the UK in 2015.
The largest proportional fall in the ‘lowest available’ price for Household 2 in 2015 was in
Germany, down by 12% as a result of Base launching a new mobile tariff (Smart T-Mobile
Flat) and Kabel Deutschland’s tariffs being included in the pricing model in 2015.
Conversely, Italy experienced the largest increase in the ‘lowest available’ price for this
household in 2015, up by 10% due to an increase in the ‘lowest available’ price of the mobile
element of the household’s use.
The difference between the ‘lowest available’ price and the ‘weighted average’ stand-alone
price for Household 2 ranged from 21% in the US to 45% in Spain (in the UK it was 32%),
while the difference between the ‘lowest available’ price and the ‘weighted average’ bundled
price ranged from 5% in France to 18% in Germany (it was 13% in the UK). From this we
61
70
72
60
62
107
55
50
71
66
64
112
0
50
100
150
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
2014
2015
Average monthly price (£)
2
1
5
4
3
6
2015 rank

125
can conclude that there are benefits to consumers of purchasing bundled services and in
shopping around to get the best deal.

Household 2: ‘lowest available’ pricing
Figure 2.17
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted; where a service is included in a bundle any
additional usage charges are recorded separately against the relevant service
Household 3: A mobile ‘power user’
The third basket represents a single-person household typical of a young professional
person who lives alone (Figure 2.18). This person lives in a mobile-only household and is a
heavy user of both a mobile phone and of mobile broadband (using a mobile ‘dongle’ to
connect to the internet).
We do not include a ‘weighted average’ bundled service price for Household 3 because it is
not as relevant as it is for the other household usage profiles, due to the limited bundling of
mobile phone and mobile broadband services, and because the ‘weighted average’ bundled
price is calculated using fixed broadband market shares, and fixed broadband is not included
in the basket.

Composition of Household 3
Figure 2.18
Source: Ofcom
Weighted ‘average stand-alone’ prices
The cheapest ‘weighted average’ cost of fulfilling the requirements of Household 3 in 2015
was in France, at £112 a month (Figure 2.19). The UK had the second lowest ‘weighted
average’ stand-alone price for this household in 2015, at £115 per month; a £12 per month
(12%) increase compared to 2014, mainly due to an increase in the price of the mobile
phone element of the basket.
The 12% increase in the UK’s total weighted ‘average stand-alone’ price of this household’s
basket was the highest recorded among our countries in 2015, with the corresponding
50
42
24
24
27
27
19
15
27
27
18
1
5
5
2
2
6
9
18
18
1
1
28
26
16
12
9
9
25
21
16
21
4
6
52
37
1
1
1
1
1
1
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
52
48
48
47
66
58
54
59
60
57
99
99
0
20
40
60
80
100
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV hardware
Mobile
Fixed broadband
Fixed voice
Mobile & mobile
bb access
Fixed voice & bb
access
Fixed voice, bb &
mobile access
UK
2
GER
4
FRA
1
ESP
3
ITA
5
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank
Fixed-line voice
Fixed broadband
Mobile
Mobile broadband
Television
None
None
500 call minutes
200 SMS
5GB 4G data
5GB over 30 days
per month
Basic pay-TV
with DVR

126
change in our comparator countries in 2015 ranging from a 15% fall in Italy (largely due to a
57% drop in the ‘weighted average’ price of the household’s mobile broadband connection,
to £12 per month) to a 2% increase in France. Italy had the lowest ‘weighted average’ mobile
broadband price among our comparator countries, and the US again had the highest
‘average stand-alone’ price at £43 per month (in the UK it was £20 per month, the third-
lowest price after Italy and France).
The mobile phone element of the basket accounted for over half of the household’s total
‘weighted average’ stand-alone price in all of our comparator countries in 2015. There were
large differences in the cost of the mobile phone connection required by this household
(which had the highest use of the eight mobile connections that we use in our analysis),
resulting in wide variations in the total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price of this
household’s basket. France had the lowest stand-alone ‘weighted average’ price for
Household 3’s mobile phone connection in 2015, at £59 per month, while this was highest in
the US at £102 per month (in the UK it was £64 per month, a £9 per month (17%) increase
on 2014, and the second lowest average among our comparator countries.
Household 3 includes a basic ‘entry-level’ pay-TV service (defined as the lowest subscription
required to receive channels that are not available on free-to-view television), with a DVR.
Because of the variation in numbers and types of channels, and the quality of programming,
like-for-like comparison is more problematic than for telecoms services, but the lowest
‘weighted average’ pay-TV prices for the household were in Italy and the UK, at £17 and £20
per month respectively in 2015. The US had the highest average price, at £43 per month.

Household 3: ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing
Figure 2.19

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value tariff from each of the largest operators by market share in
each country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
‘Lowest available’ pricing
The cheapest ‘lowest available’ price for fulfilling the requirements of Household 3 in 2015
was in France, at £84 per month, £10 a month (13%) more than in 2014 as the result of an
increase in the ‘lowest available’ price for its high-use mobile phone connection (Figure
2.20). The UK had the second-cheapest ‘lowest-available’ price for this household, at £99
per month, a £9 per month (9%) increase on 2014, again largely as a result an increase in
the price of the mobile phone connection.
In most countries there is low availability of bundles of mobile phone, mobile broadband
and/or pay-TV services offering significant bundle discounts. France was the only country in
54
64
53
59
93
88
89
83
97
93
104 102
20
20
22
17
35
33
27
12
31
26
38
43
17
20
24
26
36
34
18
17
35
36
48
43
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
103 115
110 112
181 172
142
120
163 155
191 188
0
50
100
150
200
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV (inc.
hardware)
Mobile
broadband
Mobile
UK
2
GER
5
FRA
1
ESP
4
ITA
3
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

127
which the lowest-priced combination of services to fulfil Household 3’s requirements involved
buying bundled services. In both years this bundle was Bouygues Telecom’s Offre Bbox en
zone dégroupée service, which includes landline and fixed broadband services, even though
these are not required by the household.

Household 3 ‘lowest available’ pricing
Figure 2.20
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
Household 4: A family household with multiple needs
Household 4 represents usage levels typical of a family of two parents and two teenage
children, each with their own mobile handset but with different mobile usage profiles, with the
adults using more voice and the children more messaging and data. They are heavy users of
the fixed-line phone and the internet, requiring a minimum headline connection speed of ‘up
to’ 10Mbit/s, and they subscribe to an entry-level HD pay-TV service with a DVR.

Composition of Household 4
Figure 2.21
Source: Ofcom
18
18
45
51
30
43
90
65
73
82
67
75
80
81
16
17
15
13
28
28
13
9
31
22
29
40
17
19
1
16
16
11
9
35
36
17
39
12
12
10
10
17
17
9
9
90
99
74
84
151
126
106 110
133 133
126
160
0
50
100
150
200
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV (inc. hardware)
Mobile broadband
Mobile
Fixed voice, fixed bb
& TV access
UK
2
GER
4
FRA
1
ESP
5
ITA
3
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank
Fixed-line voice
Fixed broadband
Mobile
Mobile broadband
Television
200 call minutes
Minimum 10Mbit/s
headline speed
50GB data
Connection 1
250 call minutes
100 SMS
400MB data
Connection 2
150 call minutes
200 SMS
300MB data
Connection 3
100 call minutes
250 SMS
2GB data
Connection 4
100 call minutes
250 SMS
2GB data
None
HD basic pay-TV
with DVR

128
Weighted ‘average stand-alone’ prices
The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price for this household in 2015, at
£158 a month. This was a £2 a month (1%) increase compared to 2014 (Figure 2.22).
The household’s four mobile phone connections is the main reason for variations across
countries in the total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price. The proportion of the total
accounted for by the mobile phone element of the household’s basket ranged from 55% in
France to 64% in Spain and the US in 2015 (in the UK it was 56%).
The ‘weighted average’ price of fulfilling the 200 outgoing minutes of fixed voice calls was
£25 per month in the UK in 2015, a £3 a month (13%) increase compared to 2014 and the
second-highest ‘weighted average’ price after Italy (£26 per month). The UK had the lowest
total ‘weighted average’ price for the household’s four mobile phone connections in 2015, at
£89 per month, £2 per month (2%) lower than in 2014. The US (where the total ‘weighted
average’ price for the household’s mobile use was more than twice that in the UK, despite an
8% fall during the year) had the highest ‘weighted average’ monthly mobile price, at £194.
Germany had the largest fall in the ‘average stand-alone’ mobile price in 2015, down 16%
(£29 per month) to £149.
The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ fixed broadband price for this basket in 2015, at
£12 a month. This was £2 a month less than it had been in 2014, as a result of BT
introducing a promotional offer on its Unlimited Broadband service and Tesco withdrawing a
more expensive service. Spain had the highest ‘weighted average’ fixed broadband price in
2015, at £43 a month, an £11 per month (36%) increase compared to 2014, due to Movistar
withdrawing the tariff that was its cheapest for this household in 2014, and Vodafone and
ONO launching new, more expensive services. The largest fall in the ‘weighted average’
fixed broadband price was in France, where it fell by £9 a month (29%) to £21 per month as
a result of the launch of a new Orange service, Decouverte Internet, which was significantly
cheaper than its equivalent in 2014.
The television element of this basket is the same as that for Household 3 (basic pay-TV), but
with the addition of HD channels. This resulted in increases in the ‘weighted average’ price
of the TV element of the household’s basket in three of our countries: Germany, Italy and the
US, in 2015, with these ranging from just 8 pence per month in Germany to £12 per month in
the US. In the UK, France and Spain there was no difference between the prices for
Households 3 and 4, as HD channels are included as standard.

129

Household 4: ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing
Figure 2.22
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value tariff from each of the largest operators by market share in
each country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
Weighted ‘average bundle’ prices
The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled price for Household 4 in 2015, at £110
per month (Figure 2.23); £7 per month (6%) lower than in 2014. Among the other countries
the change in the ‘weighted average’ bundled price ranged from a 27% fall in Italy (to a large
extent the result of Telecom Italia launching a new quad-play service, TIM Smart with
Subscription Super Internet 10Mbps, and Vodafone introducing a new low-cost tariff), to a
9% increase in the US.
The total ‘weighted average’ bundle price of Household 4’s usage requirements was lower
than the total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price in all of our comparator countries in 2015,
suggesting that, in general, it is cheaper to buy bundled rather than stand-alone services for
this usage profile.

Household 4: ‘weighted average’ bundled service pricing
Figure 2.23
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value bundled tariff from each operator by market share in each
country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
22
25
23
24
23
24
23
26
21
22
23
19
14
12
30
21
32
27
43
39
32
43
33
36
91
89
94
98
178 149
134 141
155
173
211 194
17
20
24
26
36
34
20
19
35
36
48
55
12
12
10
10
17
16
9
9
156 158
181 179
286
250
230 235
243
274
315 303
0
100
200
300
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV (inc.
hardware)
Mobile
Fixed
broadband
Fixed voice
UK
1
GER
4
FRA
2
ESP
5
ITA
3
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank
117
121
174
165
155
255
110
112
185
121
154
279
0
100
200
300
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
2014
2015
Average monthly price (£)
1
2
5
3
4
6
2015 rank

130
‘Lowest available’ pricing
The ‘lowest available’ price for Household 4’s requirements was in the UK in 2015, at £94
per month (Figure 2.24). This was £11 per month (10%) lower than in 2014.
There were substantial savings to be made by buying the services required by Household 4
as part of a bundle in 2015. The difference between the ‘lowest available’ price of Basket
4,including bundles, and the lowest price available using stand-alone services, ranged from
4% (£11 a month) in the US to 47% (£107 per month) in Spain. In the UK it was 23%, or £28
per month). France, with the cheapest ‘lowest available’ price in 2014, had the largest
increase in the total ‘lowest available’ price for Household 4 in 2015, up by 19% (£17 per
month) to £104). This was due to Numericable withdrawing its Start 4 10M with HD Box
Memory rented service during the year, leaving a more expensive combination of services,
including an Orange quad-play bundle of fixed voice, fixed broadband, pay-TV and mobile
services (Orange Open Jet 4G/H+) as the ‘lowest available’ priced option.
In all of the other comparator countries except the US (where an RCN dual-play fixed
broadband and pay-TV bundle was the ‘lowest available’ option), the cheapest price to fulfil
Household 4’s requirements included a triple-play bundle. In Italy and Spain, these bundles
included fixed voice, fixed broadband and mobile phone services, while in the UK and
Germany they included fixed voice, fixed broadband and pay-TV services (in the UK,
TalkTalk’s Plus TV with Line Rental Saver service).
Mobile services were the largest component of the total ‘lowest-available’ price in the
countries where the bundle in the ‘lowest available’ combination of services did not include
mobile services. The US had the highest monthly price for the mobile element of the basket
at £165 (68% of the total price of £243 per month).

Household 4: ‘lowest-available’ pricing
Figure 2.24

Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted; where a service is included in a bundle any
additional usage charges are recorded separately against the relevant service
Household 5: An affluent two-person household with high use of mobile, internet and
HD premium TV
Household 5 is typical of an affluent young couple of high-end users. They both have
mobiles and are fairly high users of mobile voice and data services and, to a lesser extent,
44
80
29 25
20
34 37
55 42
64
34
0
55
2
2
1
2
2
11
2
1
17
17
6
17
28
62 54
21
6
31 119
76 36
39 44
116
165
1
12
1
22
12
11
9
35 36
17 27
12 12
10
10
17
16
9
9
105 94
88
104
151
170
132
109
132122
234243
0
50
100
150
200
250
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV (inc. hardware)
Mobile
Fixed broadband
Fixed voice
Mobile & mobile bb access
Fixed bb & TV access
Fixed voice & mobile access
Fixed voice, bb & mobile access
Fixed voice, bb & TV access
Fixed voice, bb, TV & mobile access
UK
2
GER
5
FRA
3
ESP
4
ITA
1
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

131
SMS. They have a fixed line with relatively low use, are heavy internet users with a superfast
broadband connection (i.e. with a headline speed of 30Mbit/s or more), have a premium
television package for watching HD sport and the latest films, and a digital video recorder
(DVR).

Composition of Household 5
Figure 2.25
Source: Ofcom
Weighted ‘average stand-alone’ prices
France had the lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing for Household 5 in 2015, at
£192 a month (Figure 2.24). The UK had the second-lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone
price for the basket, at £200 a month, a £7 a month (4%) increase compared to 2014.
Basket 5 has the lowest fixed voice use of all the baskets, with 100 minutes of outgoing calls
per month. The UK had the second-highest ‘weighted average’ price for this usage profile
(after Italy) at £25 a month, £3 a month (13%) higher than in 2014. The lowest ‘weighted
average’ stand-alone cost of satisfying the mobile requirements of this basket was also in
the UK in 2015, at £89 a month. However, this was £17 per month (23%) higher than in
2014, due to increasing prices for both connections among all of the providers included in
the average in both years, and notably for O2 (up by 41%, largely due to increasing
international call prices).
The UK had the second-lowest ‘weighted average’ price (after France) for the household’s
higher-use connection, and the lowest ‘weighted average’ price for the lower-use connection,
in 2015. The highest ‘weighted average’ prices for these connections were in Germany and
the US. The total ‘weighted average’ stand-alone price of the two connections was highest in
Germany in 2015, at £138 per month, a £23 per month (20%) increase due mainly to an
increase in the average price of the higher-use connection.
Household 5 requires a fixed broadband connection with 75GB of use and a headline
(advertised download) speed of at least 30Mbit/s. There was a wide range of ‘weighted
average’ stand-alone prices for the superfast broadband connection required by this basket,
ranging from £19 a month in the UK (down by £3 per month since 2014, mainly due to
greater promotional discounts available to consumers taking BT’s Unlimited BT Infinity
Option 1 service), to £47 a month in the US.
Basket 5 also includes an HD premium pay-TV component. As was the case in 2014, the
highest ‘weighted average’ price for this package, which includes top-league football (NFL in
the US) and top-price film/entertainment channels, was in the US in 2015, at £95 a month.
The lowest was in Germany, at £31 per month. However, comparisons with the US are
Fixed-line voice
Fixed broadband
Mobile
Mobile broadband
Television
100 call minutes
Minimum 30Mbit/s
headline speed
75GB data
Connection 1
300 call minutes
150 SMS
1GB 4G data
Connection 2
200 call minutes
50 SMS
500MB 4G data
None
HD pay-TV with
sports and movies
with DVR

132
difficult to make, as NFL viewing packages are marketed in many different ways98 and are
offered through a combination of pay-per-view and subscription, and the pricing of the pay-
TV element of this basket is largely a result of the way in which channels (and related
services) are bundled.

Household 5: ‘weighted average’ stand-alone pricing
Figure 2.26
Source: Ofcom using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value tariff from each of the largest operators by market share in
each country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted.
Weighted ‘average bundle’ prices
France had the lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled service price for Household 5 in 2015, at
£140 per month, a £5 per month (4%) increase on 2014 (Figure 2.27). The UK had the third-
lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled price for this household in 2015, at £171 per month. This
was an £11 per month (7%) increase compared to the previous year.
The ‘weighted average’ bundle price increased in all of our comparator countries in 2015
except in Italy, where it fell by 4%. Germany and the US experienced the largest increases in
the average bundled price during the year, up by 24% and 26% respectively. The total
average bundled service price of this basket was lower than the total ‘weighted average’
stand-alone price in all of our comparator countries except the US in 2015, suggesting that,
in most cases, it is cheaper to buy bundled rather than stand-alone services.

98 In the US there are also seasonal variations in the availability and price of sports packages,
meaning that some packages may not have been offered in the summer, when our tariff data are
collected.
21
24
19
20
20
21
18
25
20
21
21
15
22
19
36
36
38
32
44
40
32
43
66
47
73
89
93
95
115 138
112 109
111 131
132
131
65
56
45
31
60
39
42
41
56
66
85
95
12
12
10
10
17
16
9
9
193 200
203 192
250 245
225 224
219
261
304 288
0
100
200
300
400
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV (inc.
hardware)
Mobile
Fixed
broadband
Fixed voice
UK
2
GER
4
FRA
1
ESP
5
ITA
3
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

133

Household 5: ‘weighted average’ bundled service pricing
Figure 2.27
Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: ‘Weighted average’ of best-value bundled tariff from each operator by market share in each
country; July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted
‘Lowest available’ pricing
The cheapest ‘lowest-available’ pricing for Household 5 was in France in 2015, at £124 a
month, while in the UK it was £166 per month, £16 a month (11%) more than in 2014 and
the third cheapest price among our comparator countries.
The US was the only comparator country in which the ‘lowest-available’ price for Household
5 did not include buying bundled services. In the UK the ‘lowest available’ combination of
services included a Virgin Media bundle of fixed voice and fixed broadband services
(Broadband 50MB + Phone Size XL with Line Rental Saver) along with a stand-alone Sky
pay-TV service (Original Bundle + Sky Sports & Movies with Sky+ HD Box) and Tesco
Mobile and EE mobile phone services.
The largest savings, compared to purchasing the lowest-available combination of stand-
alone services, were in France, where the cost of the cheapest bundle of services was £50 a
month (29%) less than the cheapest combination of stand-alone services (in the UK this
saving was £15 a month, or 8%). France was the only one of our six countries where the
‘lowest available’ price of this basket fell in 2015, down by £7 per month (6%). Among our
other comparator countries, the increase in the ‘lowest available’ price ranged from 10% in
Italy to 27% in Spain.
160
135
156
169
191
259
171
140
193
162
206
328
0
100
200
300
400
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
2014
2015
Average monthly price (£)
3
1
4
2
5
6
2015 rank

134

Household 5: ‘lowest available’ pricing
Figure 2.28

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, July 2014 and July 2015; PPP adjusted; where a service is included in a bundle any
additional usage charges are recorded separately against the relevant service.
2.1.5 Conclusion
Figure 2.29 below shows the ‘weighted average’ stand-alone and bundled service prices as
well as the ‘lowest available’ prices of our five household usage profiles, across the six
comparator countries, in 2015. It should be noted that TV licence fees are excluded from this
analysis (where applicable).
In general, the UK communications service prices compared favourably to those in the
comparator countries. The UK had the lowest ‘weighted average’ stand-alone prices for
Households 1, 2 and 4, but was overtaken by France for Households 3 and 5. France had
the lowest ‘weighted average’ bundled service prices in all the households except Household
4 (where the UK had lower prices), and Household 3 (where ‘weighted average’ bundle
prices are not relevant). The UK and France performed similarly in terms of the ‘lowest
available’ prices (including bundled services), each having the lowest price in two of the five
households (the UK in Households 2 and 4, France in Households 3 and 5). The US had the
highest price for all of these metrics across all household usage profiles.
The UK’s low prices were mainly due to low-priced mobile and fixed broadband services. In
2015, the UK had the cheapest ‘lowest available’ stand-alone prices for all three of the fixed
broadband connections included in our households’ usage requirements, as well as the
cheapest total ‘lowest available’ stand-alone mobile prices. In contrast, the UK had the
highest total ‘lowest available’ stand-alone price for the four fixed voice connections used in
our analysis in 2015, which had increased by 12% during the year.
68
77
55
39
46 27
55
27
47
55
41
1
1
1
19
8
0
1
1
12
1
22
1
38
59
72
61 29
20 114
88 89
46
87
120 121
55
4
24
29
1
33
56
45
67 76
12 12
10 10
17
16
9
9
150 166
131 124
143
177
144 158
158
200
235 248
0
100
200
300
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
2014
2015
TV licence
TV
Mobile
Fixed broadband
Fixed voice
Fixed bb & mobile access
Fixed & mobile access
Fixed voice & bb access
Fixed voice, bb & mobile access
Fixed voice, bb & TV access
Fixed voice, bb, TV & mobile access
UK
3
GER
4
FRA
1
ESP
5
ITA
2
USA
6
Average monthly price (£)
2015 rank

135

Summary of ‘weighted average’ stand-alone and bundled, and ‘lowest
Figure 2.29
available’ household usage profile pricing
Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Excludes the TV licence fee
In almost all cases, the ‘lowest available’ priced combination of services included a bundled
tariff where the household basket included a fixed broadband connection (i.e. for
Households 2, 4 and 5). The sole exception was for Basket 5 in the US, where the cheapest
available combination of services that included a bundle was more expensive than the
stand-alone equivalent. The potential savings available to those buying the services required
by Baskets 2, 4 and 5 as part of a bundle rather than on a stand-alone basis varied between
countries (Figure 2.30). In the UK, these savings ranged from 8% for Basket 5 to 29% for
Basket 2, while among the other comparator countries it ranged from a 4% saving for Basket
4 in the US to a 47% saving for Basket 4 in Spain.
31
Source: Ofcom
Note: TV includes licence fee
Weighted average stand-alone
service pricing (£ per month)
Price
Change
Household 1
1 - UK
41
0
2 - FRA
45
2
3 - GER
46
-1
4 - ITA
49
-1
5 - ESP
50
-2
6 - USA
82
2
Household 2
1 - UK
58
1
2 - FRA
74
0
3
GER
81
-14
4
ITA
86
3
5
ESP
104
13
6 - USA
126
5
Household 3
1
FRA
102
2
2
UK
103
12
3 - ITA
111
-22
4
GER
155
-9
5
ESP
155
-9
6 - USA
188
-3
Household 4
1 - UK
146
2
2 - FRA
169
-3
3 - ITA
226
5
4
GER
234
-35
5
ESP
274
31
6 - USA
303
-12
Household 5
1
FRA
182
-11
2
UK
188
7
3 - ITA
215
-1
4
GER
229
-4
5
ESP
261
41
6 - USA
288
-16
Weighted average bundled
service pricing (£ per month)
Price
Change
Household 1
1
FRA
35
-16
2
UK
39
0
3 -
GER
44
-2
4
ITA
48
2
5 -
ESP
57
-2
6 -
USA
84
9
Household 2
1
FRA
40
-20
2
UK
43
-6
3 -
GER
54
0
4
ITA
57
7
5 -
ESP
64
2
6 -
USA
112
5
Household 3
1 -
n/a
-
-
2 -
n/a
-
-
3 -
n/a
-
-
4 -
n/a
-
-
5 -
n/a
-
-
6 -
n/a
-
-
Household 4
1 -
UK
97
-7
2 -
FRA
102
-10
3
ITA
112
-44
4
ESP
154
-1
5 -
GER
168
11
6 -
USA
279
24
Household 5
1 -
FRA
130
5
2
ITA
153
-7
3 -
UK
159
11
4
GER
176
37
5 -
ESP
206
15
6 -
USA
328
68
‘Lowest available’ pricing
including bundles (£ per month)
Price
Change
Household 1
1
GER
30
1
2
FRA
31
1
3
UK
33
3
4
ITA
35
6
5 -
ESP
41
0
6 -
USA
45
-1
Household 2
1
UK
36
-4
2
FRA
37
-1
3
GER
42
-8
4
ITA
50
5
5 -
ESP
57
-3
6 -
USA
99
0
Household 3
1 -
FRA
74
10
2 -
UK
87
9
3 -
ITA
101
4
4
GER
110
-25
5 -
ESP
133
0
6
USA
160
34
Household 4
1
UK
82
-11
2
FRA
94
16
3 -
ITA
101
-23
4 -
ESP
122
-9
5 -
GER
153
20
6 -
USA
243
10
Household 5
1 -
FRA
114
-8
2
ITA
149
14
3
UK
154
16
4
GER
161
34
5 -
ESP
200
42
6 -
USA
248
13

136

Difference between ‘lowest available’ stand-alone and bundled prices
Figure 2.30

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Lowest tariff available for each service type from any of the largest operators by market share in
each country, and July 2015; PPP adjusted; excludes the TV licence fee
Error! Reference source not found. ranks our comparator countries in terms of ‘weighted
verage’ stand-alone and bundled pricing as well as for ‘lowest available’ pricing (including
bundles) across all five of the household usage profiles used in our analysis. The UK had the
lowest prices among our comparator countries in terms of ‘weighted average’ stand-alone
pricing. France has overtaken the UK in ‘weighted average’ bundled pricing, and also had
the ‘lowest available’ pricing (including bundles). Nevertheless, the UK has overtaken Italy,
coming second in terms of ‘lowest available’ pricing in 2015. Looking at the overall pricing
ranking, the UK came second among our comparator countries in terms of prices in 2015,
after France.

Average overall rank
Figure 2.31

Source: Ofcom, using data supplied by Teligen
Note: Excludes the TV licence fee
51
57
59
67
84
105
110
150
181
145
229
255
169
164
182
165
221
248
36
37
42
50
57
99
82
94
153
101
122
243
154
114
161
149
200
321
0
100
200
300
400
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
UK
FRA
GER
ITA
ESP
USA
Excluding
bundles
Including
bundles
Monthly cost (£)
Basket 2
Basket 4
Basket 5
%age
difference
-xx-xxxx-xxxx
-6
-xx-xxxx-xxxx
-4
-8
-31 -12
-9
-9
+30
'2-
‘Weighted average’
stand-alone pricing
1
-
UK
2
-
France
3
-
Italy
4
Germany
5
Spain
6
-
USA
‘Lowest available’ pricing
including bundles
1
-
France
2
UK
3
Italy
4
-
Germany
5
-
Spain
6
-
USA
‘Weighted average’
bundled service pricing
1
France
2
UK
3
-
Italy
4
-
Germany
5
-
Spain
6
-
USA
Overall pricing rank
1
France
2
UK
3
-
Italy
4
-
Germany
5
-
Spain
6
-
USA