Telecoms regulator Ofcom reported that the surge in demand as a result of lockdown has not negatively impacted broadband speeds in the UK.
During the period of lockdown, some providers had been reporting daytime traffic increases of up to 60%, mainly due to a significant increase in home-learning and those working from home. Not only did the UK broadband network cope with the surge in use, it also saw average download speed decrease by just 2% during lockdown.
More people than ever before are now able to access faster broadband speeds than they could in September 2019. The average home speed is now 64Mbps, an increase of 18% on the previous year’s 54.2Mbps.
UK broadband coverage is getting better
As of December 2019, superfast broadband (download speeds of at least 30Mbps) was available to 95% of UK homes – that’s an increase of 300,000 homes compared with September 2019.
Full-fibre broadband coverage increased to 12% from 10% between September and December 2019.
Download speeds of at least 300Mbps are available to 55% of homes, an increase of 700,000 premises in comparison to September 2019.
The rural/urban divide still remains though. Whilst urban homeowners could expect average download speeds of 75Mbps in 2019, this was just 39Mbps for those living rurally.
However, Ofcom reveals that the gap is closing – albeit slowly. 44% of rural lines had access to superfast broadband in 2018, which rose to 56% in 2019.