Superfast Broadband Now Available For Three Out Of Four Homes

Ofcom says three in four homes in the UK can now access superfast broadband, but countryside campaigners say the figures show that large swathes of the UK, and 20 percent of the population, are still being left behind in the broadband slow lane.

As of June this year, 73 percent of UK premises can receive superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps, an increase from 65 percent in 2012, while the number of people actually using such services has risen from 2.1 million to 4.8 million, or 22 percent of total broadband connections.

The regulator admits that this reach is mainly down to BT’s ‘Fibre-To-The-Cabinet’ (FTTC) network, which in June 2013 passed 57 percent of premises, and Virgin Media’s cable network, which offers superfast broadband services to 48 percent of premises. Of course, these two networks mostly overlap in urban areas, with those in semi rural or rural areas struggling with much slower copper-based networks.

Superfast Reach

“Superfast broadband is rolling out fast across the country, and 4G mobile will reach at least 98 percent of the population,” says Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive. “This is really good news but there remain considerable challenges, not least in hard-to-reach areas for mobile and home internet services.”

“We know consumers increasingly expect superfast speeds, but it’s also important to make sure people can connect over a very wide area. That is why we are doing everything we can to support moves to improve coverage in difficult areas such as roads and train lines.”

However it admits that some parts of the country are still missing out, something that has left countryside campaigners unimpressed.

“Twenty percent of the population live in rural areas and these are likely to be the very same people who still cannot get fast broadband,” argues Sarah Lee, the head of policy at the Countryside Alliance. “Fast reliable broadband connections are vital for rural businesses and communities. The proof of the success of the BDUK project is how they manage to roll out broadband to those in non-urban areas.”

Mobile Coverage

For the first time, Ofcom has revealed the mobile coverage on the UK’s road network. It found that while coverage for voice calls on motorways is good, there are gaps in coverage on ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads, particularly for 3G data services.

Ofcom estimates that just 35 percent of the length of the UK’s A and B roads are served by all four 3G networks, and 9 percent hve no 3G coverage at all. It believes this shortfall should in part be addressed by the roll-out of 4G services, but Ofcom is investigating to see whether whether regulatory or Government intervention is needed.

“This shocking statistic is further evidence that rural areas have been left behind in the roll-out of mobile technology,” adds Lee of the Countryside Alliance. “Good connectivity is important for rural communities and those who rely on the road network to conduct their business, particularly if they are to compete economically with urban areas.

“These figures further demonstrate the need for closer monitoring by Government to identify the true coverage of the mobile network.

“We welcome Ofcom’s commitment to examine mobile coverage on major rail routes, but believe this should also be expanded to the road network as well, which will support Ofcom’s commitment to carry out further analysis in the coming year to examine whether regulatory or Government intervention may also be required to achieve wider mobile coverage on roads.”

The Countryside Alliance has launched its own crowd-sourcing project to map the true mobile phone reception in the countryside. It asked asked smart phone owners to download the free RootMetrics app and send back samples of the mobile phone signal where they are.

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