Alongside BT, other UK ISPs supplying customers with 802.11n equipment bundled in with broadband access subscriptions include:

• Orange (bundled with all broadband packages)
• TalkTalk (only with 'Plus package' broadband)
• Virgin cable (bundled with 30Mbit/s or faster broadband packages; £75 when taken with 10Mbit/s broadband)

According to new data from IHS Screen Digest's Broadband Technology service, consumer demand in the UK for wireless N modems rose from 2.3m in 2009 to 2.8m units in 2010; meanwhile 802.11n devices' share of overall modem demand has grown to just shy of 50% up from 35% the previous year.

The growth in 802.11n devices is set against a backdrop of falling annual demand for modems and routers, corresponding to a slowdown in broadband net additions as the UK market reaches maturation. Total modem and router demand in the UK dropped to just over 7.0m in 2010 according to IHS Screen Digest data. Increasingly, demand for modems is being driven by consumer churn between providers and network upgrades (which in turn frequently means a new modem for consumers), rather than by subscribers coming online.

Meanwhile, vendor revenue from sales of modems to broadband providers totalled an estimated £240m in 2010, with Sagem, Netgear, Huawei, D-Link and Technicolor ranking among the leaders in terms of revenue.