Rise in number of free satellite homes

The number of homes taking free-to-view satellite services rose to 815,000 by the end of 2006.

Ofcom market estimates, which count free-to-view satellite households as: homes that have ceased subscribing to Sky; households that paid a one-off fee to Sky to have "Freesat" satellite equipment installed; and those households with a free-to-view viewing card, indicate that the use of free satellite equipment has "increased steadily" over the last three years.

Quarter-on-quarter, the growth rate in free-to-view digital satellite homes was 7.9%, broadly comparable to previous quarters. For comparison, digital terrestrial's growth rate was 10%, digital cable's 2.9% and Sky's 2%.