UK broadband speeds ramp up

The average residential broadband speed in the UK has reached almost 18 Mbps, five times faster in just five years, as competition between Internet providers intensifies. But while the overall average has increased rapidly, helping to meet the government’s aim to have the fastest broadband in Europe, there are large discrepancies across the UK.

The average download speed in urban areas of 31.9 Mbps falls to 21.8 Mbps in suburban areas and 11.3 Mbps in the countryside, a situation campaigners described as “digital apartheid.” The differences will add pressure on the government, which is trying to provide rural areas with better broadband. This has been hampered by a delayed and costly process designed to distribute more than £1bn of state funds, but which was given entirely to BT. The government aims to extend superfast coverage to 95 percent of premises by 2017.