Rural households continue to suffer slower broadband – even though a quarter of connections nationally are ‘superfast’ according to Ofcom’s latest research.
Ofcom’s report reveals that nationally the average fixed-line residential broadband speed is almost five times faster than it was five years ago. That average is now an enviable 17.8Mbit/s.
But Ofcom admits the national picture is uneven, with a significant number of households – especially those in rural areas – experiencing considerably slower speeds.
The research suggests average speeds in rural areas rose from 9.9Mbit/s to 11.3Mbit/s between May and November 2013 – however the rural sample of homes was too small to be statistically significant.
Improving speeds in rural areas is a government priority and it says it is on course to reach 90 per cent superfast coverage by early 2016 and recently announced an extra £250m to extend superfast coverage to 95 per cent of premises by 2017.
The information for this News in Brief item was downloaded at 2.05Mbit/s.
