Broadband Speed Statistics

Discover how fast your connection is compared to the rest of the UK.

Your broadband speed is determined by many factors, but it primarily depends on your location and your broadband plan. With this in mind, how does your connection speed compare to the rest of the UK? We unpacked the latest reports to find out which regions have access to the fastest speeds.

Quick overview

  • In 2018, the average broadband speed in the UK was 54.2Mbps download and 7.2Mbps upload.
  • These speeds are faster than the year before by 18% and 15% respectively.
  • In 2019, only 2% of UK premises are unable to access “decent broadband”.
  • This is down from 6% of premises in June 2016.
  • On a full fibre broadband connection (1Gbps), it would take you less than 5 minutes to download an ultra HD movie.
  • This is compared to 5 hours on a standard connection (10Mbps).

What is the Universal Service Offering?

The Universal Service Offering, or USO, is a government pledge to give all UK premises access to “decent broadband”. What Ofcom deems to be “decent broadband” is simply a connection capable of delivering a download speed of at least 10Mbps and an upload speed of at least 1Mbps.

Which areas of the UK are lagging behind?

We looked at the latest Ofcom report to see which regions of the UK are still currently below the USO and have poor Internet speeds.

The region with the worst access to decent broadband is West Devon, where 12.4% of premises are below the USO standard. At the other end of the spectrum, there are two regions, Hastings and Epsom and Ewell, where 0% of premises are below the USO standard. Explore the map below or search the table to see how your region fares.

Percentage of premises that are below the USO standard

Full list of regions

Region Premises below USO (%) Ultrafast broadband availability (% premises) Full fibre availability (% premises)
Adur 0.3% 83.3% 0.2%
Allerdale 4.2% 1.2% 1.2%
Amber Valley 2% 25.1% 21.9%
Arun 0.5% 2.2% 2%
Ashfield 0.5% 89.9% 1.2%
Ashford 4.1% 46.6% 4.6%
Aylesbury Vale 3.7% 43% 9.4%
Babergh 2.7% 10% 5.1%
Barking and Dagenham 0.8% 81.5% 5.9%
Barnet 0.4% 48.4% 14.6%
Barnsley 1.4% 49.7% 5.1%
Barrow-in-Furness 0.4% 0.4% 0.4%
Basildon 1.5% 68.5% 8.1%
Basingstoke and Deane 2.8% 45.8% 15%
Bassetlaw 1.5% 29.6% 2.5%
Bath and North East Somerset 2.6% 43.5% 13.6%
Bedford 1.3% 72% 4.8%
Bexley 2% 78.5% 3.7%
Birmingham 1.6% 85% 3.3%
Blaby 1% 62% 33.5%
Blackburn with Darwen 0.7% 62.7% 0.7%
Blackpool 0.1% 72.4% 0.3%
Bolsover 1.1% 28.2% 3.3%
Bolton 0.3% 76.8% 0.7%
Boston 5.1% 1.3% 1.3%
Bournemouth 0.1% 84.9% 20.5%
Bracknell Forest 1.3% 51.7% 2%
Bradford 1% 80.7% 2%
Braintree 5% 1% 0.5%
Breckland 5.2% 2.3% 1%
Brent 0.5% 65.4% 19.9%
Brentwood 1.2% 1.2% 1.2%
Brighton and Hove 1% 84.5% 1.7%
Bristol, City of 1.4% 89.2% 9.3%
Broadland 3.8% 39.4% 5.1%
Bromley 0.7% 81.1% 0.8%
Bromsgrove 1.2% 29.5% 6.7%
Broxbourne 0.3% 86.2% 0.5%
Broxtowe 0.2% 93% 0.5%
Burnley 0.3% 85.5% 0.2%
Bury 0.3% 48% 3.5%
Calderdale 1.6% 45.3% 3%
Cambridge 0.5% 87.5% 5.3%
Camden 0.1% 85.8% 9%
Cannock Chase 0.5% 21.7% 0.3%
Canterbury 1.2% 1.4% 1.4%
Carlisle 4.1% 47% 2.6%
Castle Point 0.3% 49.4% 2.1%
Central Bedfordshire 1.6% 62.7% 4.5%
Charnwood 1.5% 68.4% 8.1%
Chelmsford 2% 46.1% 2.8%
Cheltenham 1.2% 71% 3.3%
Cherwell 1.3% 35% 7.7%
Cheshire East 2.3% 33% 3.1%
Cheshire West and Chester 1.6% 21% 4.8%
Chesterfield 0.7% 34.5% 0.9%
Chichester 3.2% 16.1% 16.5%
Chiltern 1.3% 50.1% 0.3%
Chorley 1.6% 50.9% 3.7%
Christchurch 0.3% 78.3% 20.9%
City of London 0.1% 32.1% 31.1%
Colchester 3.3% 50.1% 4.3%
Copeland 1.8% 0.9% 0.9%
Corby 0.3% 68.6% 12%
Cornwall 3.5% 34.9% 31.7%
Cotswold 4.5% 23.9% 23.8%
County Durham 2% 4.7% 1.9%
Coventry 1.8% 79.1% 16.9%
Craven 4.4% 8.1% 7.4%
Crawley 0.1% 88.9% 1.5%
Croydon 0.9% 82.4% 7.3%
Dacorum 1.9% 69.7% 1.7%
Darlington 3.9% 86.4% 1%
Dartford 1.8% 50% 6.9%
Daventry 3.1% 19.1% 16%
Derby 0.3% 87.3% 1.9%
Derbyshire Dales 8.1% 4.3% 4.3%
Doncaster 1.2% 45.9% 6.9%
Dover 2.3% 30.3% 1.6%
Dudley 0.2% 91.2% 0.3%
Ealing 0.9% 68.7% 9%
East Cambridgeshire 2.8% 31.9% 2%
East Devon 5.8% 5.8% 4.4%
East Dorset 1.8% 4.5% 0.9%
East Hampshire 3.5% 31.4% 2.8%
East Hertfordshire 2.1% 64.5% 8.9%
East Lindsey 6.2% 12% 1.4%
East Northamptonshire 1% 37.7% 7%
East Riding of Yorkshire 3.7% 37.9% 37.7%
East Staffordshire 2.1% 8.8% 6.7%
Eastbourne 0.1% 1% 1%
Eastleigh 0.5% 56.2% 3.4%
Eden 11.1% 2.9% 2.9%
Elmbridge 0.1% 79.9% 2.3%
Enfield 0.9% 85.1% 2.6%
Epping Forest 2.3% 79.1% 6.5%
Epsom and Ewell 0% 78.6% 2.9%
Erewash 0.5% 78.8% 0.3%
Exeter 2.5% 82.4% 9.9%
Fareham 0.8% 76.3% 2.9%
Fenland 2.6% 59.8% 26.3%
Forest Heath 1.9% 31.3% 1%
Forest of Dean 10.8% 8.8% 8.4%
Fylde 1.5% 29.2% 2.1%
Gateshead 1.4% 70% 3.3%
Gedling 0.4% 89.8% 1%
Gloucester 1.8% 83% 2.8%
Gosport 0.1% 61.5% 0.8%
Gravesham 0.8% 66.3% 5.6%
Great Yarmouth 1.4% 53.5% 1.8%
Greenwich 1% 66.3% 11.7%
Guildford 0.5% 68.7% 2.4%
Hackney 0.3% 70.6% 11.4%
Halton 0.3% 64.6% 1.4%
Hambleton 7.8% 2.9% 2.8%
Hammersmith and Fulham 0.6% 58.9% 27.2%
Harborough 1.7% 29.7% 10.8%
Haringey 0.8% 85.1% 3.7%
Harlow 1.3% 89.7% 1.3%
Harrogate 4.2% 54.1% 2.1%
Harrow 1.1% 82.5% 4.3%
Hart 2% 63.1% 4%
Hartlepool 1.4% 89.9% 0.6%
Hastings 0% 0.1% 0.1%
Havant 0.2% 88.8% 0.5%
Havering 0.7% 87.9% 3%
Herefordshire, County of 6.4% 10.9% 10.9%
Hertsmere 0.8% 80% 2.1%
High Peak 3.7% 1.7% 1.7%
Hillingdon 1.2% 90.4% 4.3%
Hinckley and Bosworth 1.8% 63.5% 5.1%
Horsham 2.9% 11.9% 6%
Hounslow 0.7% 87.6% 8.4%
Huntingdonshire 1.8% 54.8% 3%
Hyndburn 0.4% 64.8% 0.1%
Ipswich 0.2% 77.8% 1%
Isle of Wight 1% 1.3% 19.1%
Isles of Scilly 0.2% 0% 0%
Islington 0.2% 80.5% 9.2%
Kensington and Chelsea 0.6% 80.7% 8.1%
Kettering 0.8% 57.5% 5.7%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk 4% 3.8% 1.1%
Kingston upon Hull, City of 3% 91.9% 91.9%
Kingston upon Thames 0.3% 91% 2.7%
Kirklees 1.3% 65.8% 6.8%
Knowsley 0.3% 77.8% 6.4%
Lambeth 0.1% 64.4% 12.8%
Lancaster 0.7% 46.2% 8.1%
Leeds 1% 80.4% 12.5%
Leicester 0.5% 81.9% 3.6%
Lewes 0.7% 17.8% 17.7%
Lewisham 0.5% 64.1% 13.4%
Lichfield 1.5% 66.5% 2.1%
Lincoln 0.5% 85.4% 0.1%
Liverpool 0.6% 81.1% 7.2%
Luton 0.2% 95% 2%
Maidstone 2.7% 50% 4.1%
Maldon 3.7% 2.7% 2.7%
Malvern Hills 6.7% 3.6% 3.6%
Manchester 1.8% 58.9% 6.8%
Mansfield 0.2% 83.5% 0.4%
Medway 0.8% 79.5% 0.5%
Melton 3.3% 51.5% 1%
Mendip 6.8% 23.3% 2.5%
Merton 0.7% 87.7% 2.5%
Mid Devon 11.1% 3.7% 3.3%
Mid Suffolk 5% 6.2% 5.4%
Mid Sussex 1% 8.5% 8.4%
Middlesbrough 1.3% 92% 0.6%
Milton Keynes 1.4% 30.9% 27.1%
Mole Valley 0.9% 63.1% 5.1%
New Forest 3.1% 18% 8.1%
Newark and Sherwood 1.7% 54.4% 9.5%
Newcastle upon Tyne 0.7% 61.9% 7.1%
Newcastle-under-Lyme 1.3% 59.6% 6.2%
Newham 1% 84.7% 16.8%
North Devon 7.8% 2.3% 2.3%
North Dorset 4.3% 2% 1.6%
North East Derbyshire 2.7% 7.5% 7.1%
North East Lincolnshire 1.4% 93% 0.4%
North Hertfordshire 2% 72.1% 1.4%
North Kesteven 2.8% 33.6% 1.3%
North Lincolnshire 2% 44% 1.2%
North Norfolk 6.3% 1.2% 1.1%
North Somerset 2.5% 28.6% 3.3%
North Tyneside 1.1% 62.5% 0.5%
North Warwickshire 2% 22.6% 6%
North West Leicestershire 1.2% 68.7% 3.1%
Northampton 0.9% 70.8% 2.8%
Northumberland 3.5% 3.7% 2.3%
Norwich 0.6% 87.5% 0.1%
Nottingham 0.3% 91.1% 5.1%
Nuneaton and Bedworth 0.3% 79.8% 2%
Oadby and Wigston 0.3% 77.4% 1.5%
Oldham 0.7% 69.8% 0.2%
Oxford 0.8% 85.8% 1.5%
Pendle 1.4% 56.1% 1%
Peterborough 0.6% 74.7% 8.8%
Plymouth 1.2% 90.3% 0.6%
Poole 0.3% 80.9% 3.2%
Portsmouth 1.3% 69.3% 2.9%
Preston 0.6% 72.6% 3.6%
Purbeck 3.8% 15.3% 1.8%
Reading 0.6% 80.1% 8%
Redbridge 0.4% 77.4% 7.3%
Redcar and Cleveland 1.8% 87.9% 0.4%
Redditch 0.1% 85.4% 1.5%
Reigate and Banstead 0.4% 63.2% 2.7%
Ribble Valley 5.4% 7.8% 5.8%
Richmond upon Thames 0.4% 89.4% 6.4%
Richmondshire 8.5% 7.7% 2.4%
Rochdale 0.4% 63.5% 8.3%
Rochford 1% 3.9% 2.5%
Rossendale 0.9% 45.5% 0.2%
Rother 1.8% 1.9% 1.9%
Rotherham 0.8% 57.3% 7%
Rugby 2.1% 50.8% 2.6%
Runnymede 1% 74.1% 2.1%
Rushcliffe 1.1% 72.7% 3%
Rushmoor 1.5% 86.1% 2.8%
Rutland 1.3% 8.8% 8.8%
Ryedale 10% 4.6% 4.6%
Salford 2.5% 79.6% 14.7%
Sandwell 0.3% 74.7% 0.8%
Scarborough 2.5% 1% 0.9%
Sedgemoor 4.3% 8.1% 2.7%
Sefton 0.3% 65% 3.3%
Selby 3% 7.8% 7.5%
Sevenoaks 1.5% 28.4% 2.1%
Sheffield 1.5% 37.6% 1.8%
Shropshire 7.3% 10.2% 4.3%
Slough 0.5% 88% 4.1%
Solihull 1.3% 80.5% 4.2%
South Bucks 3.6% 39.6% 13%
South Cambridgeshire 1.4% 56.4% 12%
South Derbyshire 3.2% 14.5% 6%
South Gloucestershire 0.9% 75.5% 5%
South Hams 8% 9.9% 10.4%
South Holland 5% 3.5% 3.4%
South Kesteven 2.3% 30.8% 1.5%
South Lakeland 3.4% 6.3% 6.3%
South Norfolk 5.2% 7.4% 1.6%
South Northamptonshire 4.1% 13.3% 9.7%
South Oxfordshire 1.3% 34.8% 10.8%
South Ribble 0.8% 65.6% 1.1%
South Somerset 5.1% 0.8% 0.8%
South Staffordshire 3.1% 27% 25.7%
South Tyneside 0.7% 78.7% 0.4%
Southampton 1.4% 86.3% 6.4%
Southend-on-Sea 0.4% 60.6% 4.3%
Southwark 1.1% 68.7% 45%
Spelthorne 1% 87.6% 27.7%
St Albans 0.7% 66.4% 1.4%
St Edmundsbury 1.7% 6.5% 2.1%
St. Helens 1.5% 78.7% 1%
Stafford 2.8% 65.4% 2.4%
Staffordshire Moorlands 4.2% 28.1% 0.7%
Stevenage 0.3% 89.5% 0.4%
Stockport 0.3% 80.4% 0.3%
Stockton-on-Tees 4.6% 76.3% 2.5%
Stoke-on-Trent 0.4% 77% 0.2%
Stratford-on-Avon 4.3% 27.5% 4.2%
Stroud 4.1% 11.2% 7.1%
Suffolk Coastal 4.6% 18% 3.8%
Sunderland 1.1% 54.9% 1.1%
Surrey Heath 0.4% 69.7% 5.7%
Sutton 0.4% 85.4% 1.6%
Swale 2% 34.5% 1.3%
Swindon 3.5% 78.1% 5.6%
Tameside 0.2% 51.8% 8.6%
Tamworth 0.3% 86.9% 0.6%
Tandridge 2.2% 50.5% 3.9%
Taunton Deane 5.2% 11.9% 3.7%
Teignbridge 4.6% 30.7% 1.1%
Telford and Wrekin 0.4% 71.5% 2%
Tendring 3.5% 0.6% 0.4%
Test Valley 3.3% 61.1% 9%
Tewkesbury 5.5% 48.6% 13.5%
Thanet 0.5% 43.2% 43%
Three Rivers 0.9% 71.7% 1%
Thurrock 2.4% 75.7% 7.1%
Tonbridge and Malling 2.5% 56.9% 6.5%
Torbay 1.1% 51.6% 8.9%
Torridge 11.5% 3.4% 3.4%
Tower Hamlets 0.5% 65.1% 35.4%
Trafford 0.5% 68.2% 2%
Tunbridge Wells 3.4% 49.8% 7.2%
Uttlesford 8.3% 20.5% 2.5%
Vale of White Horse 1% 62.5% 13.6%
Wakefield 1.2% 38.6% 8.3%
Walsall 0.4% 77.5% 7.2%
Waltham Forest 1.6% 91.4% 20.4%
Wandsworth 0.5% 68.9% 10.9%
Warrington 0.3% 65% 1.1%
Warwick 1.7% 73.5% 5%
Watford 0.2% 80.8% 1.4%
Waveney 1.5% 2.7% 2.7%
Waverley 1.4% 12.5% 3.4%
Wealden 1.9% 4.9% 4.9%
Wellingborough 0.8% 51% 2%
Welwyn Hatfield 1.4% 70.1% 3.4%
West Berkshire 2.3% 62.2% 21.6%
West Devon 12.4% 1.1% 1.1%
West Dorset 3.6% 3.9% 3.8%
West Lancashire 2.9% 17% 12%
West Lindsey 7.3% 16.1% 3.1%
West Oxfordshire 3.6% 43.6% 9.6%
West Somerset 8.1% 2.3% 2.3%
Westminster 0.3% 31.9% 19.6%
Weymouth and Portland 0.7% 0.2% 0.2%
Wigan 0.5% 68.7% 0.6%
Wiltshire 2.2% 37.9% 3.8%
Winchester 4.3% 43.2% 3.3%
Windsor and Maidenhead 1.6% 60.4% 2.9%
Wirral 0.5% 55% 1%
Woking 0.4% 85.9% 2.4%
Wokingham 2% 56.5% 5.2%
Wolverhampton 0.3% 90.9% 0.7%
Worcester 0.1% 2% 1%
Worthing 0.1% 89.1% 1.2%
Wychavon 3% 6.1% 3.2%
Wycombe 1.6% 24.6% 1.6%
Wyre 0.7% 5.4% 4.6%
Wyre Forest 1.6% 51.3% 0.5%
York 1.1% 75.6% 43.9%

What do different speeds mean?

Having quicker Internet always sounds appealing, but what exactly do faster speeds allow you to do that a slower speed may not? This table shows you how a faster connection may change your Internet experience.

Activity Decent broadband (10Mbps) Superfast broadband (30Mbps) Ultrafast broadband (300Mbps) Full fibre broadband (1Gbps)
Streaming music Yes Yes Yes Yes
Downloading an album 1-2 minutes 30-60 seconds
Streaming an HD movie Yes Yes Yes Yes
Downloading an HD movie 1-1.5 hours 30 minutes
Streaming an ultra HD movie No Yes Yes Yes
Downloading an ultra HD movie 5 hours 1.5-2 hours

On a decent broadband connection (10Mbps) it would take you roughly 5 hours to download an ultra HD movie, whereas on an ultrafast broadband connection (300Mbps) it would take you less than 15 minutes. Meanwhile on a full fibre broadband connection (1Gbps) the download could take less than 5 minutes.

Source

All information on this page was collected from Ofcom.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact

Matt Mckenna
UK Communications Manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
matt.mckenna@finder.com@MichHutchison/in/matthewmckenna2

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