UK broadband not up to scratch, Ofcom claims

Ofcom has revealed UK broadband is still patchy around the country with average download speeds of 23Mbps, although it is now universally available to most homes.

The regulator revealed in a report about the UK's telecom infrastructure that although things are looking up, there's still three per cent of the population that do not have access to basic broadband (less than 3Mbps), while 10 per cent of the country only has a connection of 10Mbps.

"The economics of networks means there are parts of the UK that will not be fully served by the market. There are also some services, which may not be provided to all by the market. In these circumstances, Ofcom or the Government ma intervene to further consumer and citizen interests," the report said.

The report noted that 27 per cent of households still do not take a fixed broadband connection of any kind.

"Some of these will be using mobile data services, such as 3G and 4G connections on their smartphones or tablets. However, around 18 per cent of households have no home access to the internet, fixed or mobile," it continued.

Ofcom said it is facing a number of challenges when trying to improve nationwide services. Despite the government attempting to reach all corners of the UK via its rural broadband roll out initiative, reaching these areas is difficult and it's also more expensive to implement broadband to low-density populations.

However, the government is looking into new technologies that could improve the roll out to such locations.

Furthermore, rolling out broadband to cities is not as efficient as it could be because there aren't always cabinets available to hook customers up to. The government is trying to improve services via wireless connections that could take a fibre connection straight to the customer.

The final issue Ofcom addresses in its report was the availability of NGA technology to SMEs.

"The current availability of superfast broadband based on BT and Virgin Media NGA technology is lower for SMEs than for residential premises," Ofcom said.

"We will be investigating the scale of the residual concern, and potential solutions, in the work we have recently announced on the availability and choice of communications services for SMEs."

The report was prepared for the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, as part of its work to regulate the telecoms industry. It was required to produce and publish the report, covering the status of electronic communications networks and services such as the capacity, infrastructure sharing, security and resilience, plus the use of spectrum.