According to the latest Ofcom update, nearly one in four homes in the UK now have access to full-fibre broadband.
In September 9th’s ‘Connected Nations’ interim update, which follows the December 2020 annual report, the regulator revealed that full fibre coverage continues to increase at pace, up to 24% from 21% in the four months between January 2021 and May 2021, with just under seven million homes now covered.
Additionally, the update reported that around 12 million households, or 40% of UK homes, could access gigabit-capable broadband delivering speeds of up to 1Gbps through fibre or cable connections.
The vast majority (96%) of homes in the UK can also access ‘superfast’ broadband, which is defined as a connection providing download speeds of at least 30Mbps.
Fibre and cable are not the only ways to deliver fast internet connections, however, and mobile-based provider National Broadband is looking to challenge existing fixed broadband services with the launch of its own 5G internet in more than 100 towns and cities throughout the UK.
Locations that will be covered at launch will include London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.
The company already operates 4G services, primarily in rural areas that can be challenging for fixed broadband networks to reach.
Mobile 5G said to offer higher average speeds than fibre
The 5G offering is available for homes and businesses and will be marketed as a fast and reliable alternative to fixed broadband services, which could be affected by congestion, lower speeds or outdated ASDL connections.
National Broadband claims that its new service, which is available to any premises in the launch areas that have 5G coverage, will provide average download speeds of 100Mbps.
This is considerably higher than the average download speed currently available through fibre and cable.
The Ofcom report said that the median download speed as of May 2021 was 50.4Mbps, though some individual services did exceed these speeds.
Virgin Media’s 516 Mbps service, for example, achieved the fastest median speed, at 490.3Mbps, with the BT full-fibre offering providing the fastest uploads – an average of 50.6Mbps.
National Broadband director David Hennell said that the service matched the best that standard-fibre connections could offer and that it was perfect for people working from home.
He added that the download speeds provided meant that customers would never have a “video freeze mid-call”.
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