UK broadband speed on the rise

Across the country the average speed of broadband in British homes has risen to 17.8Mbps. This is according to reports released by Ofcom with week.

That is an increase in 3Mbps in just six months, which is astounding considering just 6 years ago the average broadband speed was 3.6Mbps.

However it isn’t good news all round for broadband users. The UK’s major cities and towns have been enjoying faster broadband, yet rural areas aren’t so fortunate.

Over the same period of time, the average broadband speed in rural areas has only risen 1.4Mbps from 9.9Mbps (to 11.3Mbps).

Ofcom has said that “The growth in superfast broadband and the rise in average speeds is testament to the investment in the sector” however they can see that the benefits of the increased speeds aren’t shared out evenly across the UK.

Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Exective says “"There is more work needed to deliver wider availability of broadband and superfast broadband, particularly in rural communities but also in some locations within cities to enable wider access to fast internet."

Who provides the fastest broadband?

So who has the fastest broadband on the market? Virgin Media have taken the number one spot for fastest speeds offered in the UK, with120Mbps (which averages out at 114Mbps over 24 hours).

However other exciting news has been announced this week with Sky, TalkTalk and CityFibre stating that they are teaming up to launch a 1Gb broadband service, which will be starting in York (before being launched elsewhere).

This will be similar to Google Fiber which has been introduced to several cities in America and who is now working on a 10Gb service!   

This Sky and TalkTalk high broadband speed service should be up and running some time in 2015…