Telecoms industry regulator Ofcom measures the availability of broadband and mobile services in the UK. And its annual Connected Nations report includes details of the newest full fibre and 5G networks being rolled out. Since the last report was published in 2021, there have been some significant improvements to the UK’s broadband and mobile infrastructure.
Most notable is the increase of over three million homes that now have access to full fibre broadband. This leap is equal to 10 percentage points and is the highest year-on-year increase since full fibre began rolling out across the UK. Now approximately 8.2 million households are able to switch to a full fibre broadband service that gives them access to internet speeds that are nearly 10 times faster than Superfast broadband.
Full fibre is also significantly more reliable than a connection that still uses copper cables. This means your internet speed is less likely to vary throughout the day or drop out at times of high traffic.
Ofcom also reported that gigabit-capable broadband – broadband that provides speeds of 1Gbps or 1000Mbps – is actually available to a much larger percentage of UK homes. Approximately 13.7 million properties, representing an amazing 47% of UK homes, are able to access those lightning-fast speeds either via full fibre or other upgraded cable networks such as Virgin Media.
Broadband expert Catherine Hiley said, “Faster broadband has enjoyed a revolution in the past year. And it is an incredible feat to have nearly doubled the number of homes that can access a gigabit connection.
“Such dramatic progress makes the rollout of full fibre look slow by comparison, and the government’s target of bringing it to 85% of homes by 2025 seem ambitious.
“It’s good to see that the number of customers enduring speeds under 10 Mbit/s has fallen to under 100,000, but there is still a lot of work to do to close the digital divide.
“Despite the positive progress in this area, there are still thousands of people struggling with a slow connection and providers need to ensure their customers are aware of the options available to them.
“Many households are still on ADSL connections and enduring slow speeds unnecessarily, unaware that they could upgrade to fibre broadband for a reasonable price, potentially saving money.
“Anyone who is still battling with slow broadband should run a speed test to check they are getting the speeds they’re paying for and expect. If you’re not happy with the results, it’s worth running a comparison online to see if you could switch to a better deal and ultimately a faster, more reliable connection.”
Check and see if you’re able to get full fibre broadband in your home with our postcode checker.
