Broadband speeds fall below minimum requirement in quarter of UK homes, report finds
More than a quarter of households in the UK suffer from insufficient broadband speeds, a new report has revealed.
Over 26 per cent of homes receive broadband speeds of less than 10Mbps, which regulator Ofcom says is the minimum to meet the needs of most households.
In addition, just over 13 per cent of homes struggle with speeds of below 5Mbps, according to a report by price comparison site Uswitch.
The report found the street with the slowest broadband in the country is Greenmeadows Park in Bamfurlong, Gloucestershire, which has download speeds of just 0.14Mbps.
In Greenmeadows Park it would take more than 100 hours to download a two-hour HD film on Netflix and at least 38 hours to download a 45-minute HD TV show, according to Uswitch.
By contrast, the UK’s fastest broadband speed is found on Abdon Avenue in Birmingham, which enjoys an average download speed of more than 265Mbps. On Abdon Avenue the same Netflix film would take only four minutes to download.
Limeharbour on the Isle of Dogs was crowned the fasted broadband street in London.
“This research lays bare the extent of the UK’s digital divide,” said Dani Warner, broadband expert at Uswitch.
“Streets that are relatively close geographically can be light years apart when it comes to the download speeds they are getting.”
The survey found that while access to faster broadband is growing overall, a lack of awareness remains an issue.
Although superfast broadband, which is classed as speeds above 24Mbps, is available across 95 per cent of the UK, only just over half of Britons believe they can access it, the survey found.
“Awareness of fibre broadband availability continues to be the biggest hurdle to people getting faster download speeds,” Warner added.
Jeremy Chelot, chief executive of internet service provider Community Fibre, said: “As this research shows, basic internet access is simply no longer enough.
“As the majority of the connections in the UK are copper-based, it is evident that the UK is not fully prepared for the digital future.”