The UK broadband market has recovered from what was its lowest quarterly growth rate ever in Q2 2006, according to market researcher Point Topic.

The base of DSL lines grew by 8% in Q3, compared to 6.5% at the end of June, according to report from Point Topic.

“After earlier hiccups, consumer confidence has returned to the UK broadband market. The overall growth rate has improved quite significantly over the last quarter,” said Katja Mueller, chief analyst at Point Topic.

Point Topic estimated that the total number of BT DSL lines increased from 8.07 to 8.49 million by the end of September 2006. 

The number of DSL lines in the UK now totals 9.4 million, up from 8.7 million in the last quarter.

But regional variations in the uptake of broadband services persist. Northern Ireland has the highest DSL growth rate between Q4 2005 and Q3 2006, 44.12%, followed by Wales and Scotland, with 33.16% and 31.51% respectively.

While the North East, West Midlands and North West performed weakly. “Only London scored lower, a region in which BT is losing market share to local loop unbundling ISPs,” said the report.