Ofcom report finds 4% of UK properties cannot access speeds of at least 10Mbps deemed necessary for modern internet use

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

More than 1m “forgotten homes” across the UK are unable to get sufficiently fast broadband to meet a typical family’s needs, from watching Netflix to browsing YouTube.

Ofcom, the communications regulator, said 4% of UK homes and offices, about 1.1m properties, could not access broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps.

This is the minimum speed deemed necessary to cope with modern internet requirements, from downloading a film on Sky to streaming music and watching services such as Amazon and Netflix.



Ofcom said rural families were being left behind where properties are far from the local exchanges that provide fast speeds. It said 17% of homes were not getting decent internet, compared with 2% in cities and towns.



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Steve Unger, the regulator’s chief technology officer, said: “Everyone should have good access to the internet, wherever they live and work.

“Our findings show there’s still urgent work required before the people and businesses get the services they need.”



Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report found there had been a decline in the number of households and offices without the minimum speed connection, from 2.4m in 2015 to 1.4m last year.

The regulator said the number of properties with superfast broadband – the government’s target of speeds of 30Mbps or more – had risen from about 30% to 40%.

Matt Hancock, the digital minister, said: “We will have taken superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by the end of the year, but we are not complacent and there is more work to be done.

“We are making sure that by 2020, every home and business in the UK will have access to reliable, high-speed broadband.”

However, a report in August found that Britain remained a global broadband laggard, ranking it 31st for average speed, trailing most of Europe, Thailand and New Zealand.

In July, 57 MPs published a report calling on Ofcom to make broadband providers such as BT and Sky compensate customers who do not get the connection speeds they are promised.