Ultrafast broadband availability

Post-COVID, digital connectivity is more important than ever. The UK suffers from vast geographical inequality in access to ultrafast broadband with coastal areas, the north of Scotland and England as well as Wales doing poorly.

A widespread shift towards remote working during the COVID-19 crisis has meant that people across the UK are increasingly reliant on fast and stable internet connections. The pandemic has created a paradigm shift in working habits, and the use of virtual platforms such Zoom and Microsoft teams are often the principal means for staying in touch and collaborating with colleagues.

The UK in general lags behind other Western nations in terms of its broadband capabilities and speeds. A study of worldwide broadband speeds by Cable.co.uk placed the UK 47th in the world, and the country is tumbling down the table compared with the previous year’s study.

Data from Ofcom shows that further regional inequalities divide the UK’s access to the latest broadband infrastructure. While major cities and urban areas generally have good access to ultrafast broadband (UFBB) - defined as speeds greater than 300 Mbps - Northern regions on the whole fare worse. For instance, in County Durham only 11.6% of premises have access to UFBB, while in Cambridge the figure is 85.3%.

As well as regional inequalities there is a noticeable rural-urban imbalance in digital connectivity. Three of the nine areas with the lowest percentage of premises able to access UFBB are in the mostly rural county of Cumbria: Barrow-in-Furness (0.7%), Copeland (1.4%) and Allerdale (2.3%).