It’s true that the UK providers may not be the fastest in the world but they are among the cheapest. Think you got a good deal then found it wasn’t performing? Well, you probably did, you might unfortunately just live in a hard area to reach.
OFCOM, the telecoms regulator, are shining a light on broadband. Their research shows that 14% of homes using broadband are only matching speeds of 2Mbps at the most, while those living in Edinburgh have the fastest speeds in the country which reach an average of 10.1Mbps. Think it’s time to move? Think again. The government have procured £830 million for the leading broadband providers to continue and accelerate the building of superfast networks across the country, and predominantly in hard-to-reach rural areas by 2015.
Digital distribution can be a tricky thing, and we may seem flawed in the UK when compared with the speeds of European and Far Eastern countries, but take comfort in the fact that we are still unmatched in the price of our broadband as the 9th cheapest provider globally. OFCOM have found that the telecommunications giant BT charge £14 for 20Mbps, and Virgin Media make the Internet available for only £13.50 a month with a 10Mbps speed, whereas customers in the EU are having to fork out €34 – that’s £30 – every month for a pitiful connection speed of 2-8Mbps.
The majority of UK providers also use cable and fibre-optic connections to distribute broadband, which are far quicker and less likely to disappoint than other means, such as wireless. OFCOM have also found, in a survey conducted earlier this year that broadband speeds are being regularly increased by the providers, so we can hope that soon the UK will match competing countries, and ideally surpass them.
