Consumers from ethnic minority groups are among the most enthusiastic and technology-aware consumers of communications services in the UK, according to research published by Ofcom, MarketingCharts reports.

They watch less TV - especially the biggest traditional channels - and those who have Internet access are more likely to have broadband and to use and depend on a mobile phone than the rest of the population.

Ofcom's "Communications Market Special Report" on ethnic minority groups (EMGs) found that 83 percent said that communications technology is important to them, compared with the UK average of 69 percent.

In addition, some 72 percent of people from EMGs said they keep up with technology, compared with the UK average of 59 percent, and 63 percent said they could not happily live without a mobile phone (vs. 50 percent for the U.K. overall).

Telecom and Internet

The report shows that adoption levels of telecom and internet services among people from EMGs compare favorably with the overall UK population's.

Of all Internet users in the UK, a higher proportion of people from EMGs have broadband (80 percent) than the UK.average (74 percent). Some 86 percent of EMG households have a fixed-line telephone (89 percent UK) and mobile adoption is higher among EMGs (83 percent vs. 80 percent UK average).

Television

EMG individuals watch less television per day (3 hrs, 16 min) than the average person in the UK (3 hrs, 37 min). Of the television they do watch, they have a stronger preference for films (13.5 percent of total EMG viewing, compared with 9.6 percent UK average) and children's programming (3.9 percent of EMG viewing, vs. 2.3 percent UK average).

Children

When choosing communications services, EMG adults are in many ways more likely to take their children's needs into account.

For example, when asked to value the benefits of digital television, 66 percent of parents from EMGs mentioned the ability to set parental controls, compared with the U.K. average of 47 percent.

MarketingCharts offers more findings from the study.