UK experiences superfast broadband surge but challenges remain to address speed mismatches
15 Apr 2014 12:54 PM
One in four UK residential fixed broadband
connections is ‘superfast’, according to latest Ofcom
research
The
proportion of superfast connections – those offering headline speeds of
30Mbit/s or more – has risen from 5% in November 2011 to 25% in November
2013.
And
the average superfast connection speed has continued to rise, reaching
47.0Mbit/s by November 2013 – an increase of 47%, or 15.1Mbit/s since May
2010.
These are some of the findings from Ofcom’s tenth
report measuring consumers’ actualbroadband connection
speeds, as opposed to headline advertised speeds. As well as looking at
superfast broadband, the report considers ADSL broadband, which accounts for
69% of UK residential broadband connections.
Average UK broadband speed
revealed
The
report reveals that at 17.8Mbit/s, the average actual fixed-line residential
broadband speed in the UK is almost five times faster than it was five years
ago when Ofcom first began publishing the data (up from 3.6Mbit/s in November
2008). See graph below.
Differences across the
country
While the growth in average speeds show that investment
in broadband technology is delivering benefits for most consumers, the UK
picture is uneven. A significant number of households especially those in rural
areas, can experience considerably slower speeds.
Ofcom’s indicative analysis suggests
that:
- the
average urban download speed in November 2013 was
31.9Mbit/s, a 21% increase since May 2013;
- the
average suburban download speed in November 2013 was
21.8Mbit/s, a 22% increase since May 2013.
- The
research also suggests that average speeds
in rural areas increased from 9.9Mbit/s to
11.3Mbit/s between May and November 2013. The sizes of the rural samples from
which these averages were taken, however, are not large enough for the change
to be deemed statistically significant. As such, the figures should be treated
as indicative only.
One
key reason for the slower speeds in rural areas is the limited availability of
superfast broadband services. In addition, broadband speeds over ADSL, a
technology that uses the copper wire telephone network, are generally slower in
rural areas because of the longer distances to the telephone
exchange.
Problems with slower broadband speeds are not just
confined to rural communities but can also affect urban areas. Ofcom will be
publishing research into the important issue of urban broadband variability
during the course of this year and seeking to explore with operators any
barriers to roll out of higher speed services.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards
said:
“The growth in superfast broadband and the rise in
average speeds is testament to the investment in the sector. But the benefits
are not shared evenly across the UK. 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.”
Improving speeds in rural areas is a priority for the
Government which has committed funding to ensure superfast broadband is more
widely available across the UK. It has reported it is on course to reach 90%
superfast coverage by early 2016 and recently announced an extra £250
million investment to extend superfast coverage to 95% of premises by
2017.
Fastest download and upload speeds over a 24
hour period
Of
the ISP packages included in the report, Virgin Media’s ‘up
to’ 120Mbit/s service, which delivers broadband using cable technology,
achieved the fastest download speeds over a 24 hour period, averaging
114.9Mbit/s.
This was followed by ‘up to’ 76Mbit/s fibre
packages (which include BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Sky and EE). which delivered
average download speeds of 64.8Mbit/s.
Ofcom’s research also examines upload speeds,
which are particularly important to those consumers wishing to share large
files or use real-time video communications. The research found that fibre
connections with headline download speeds of ‘up to’ 76Mbit/s
delivered the fastest upload speeds at 17.4Mbit/s on
average.
Average download speeds by ISP
package
These ranges reflect the average speeds that
would be achieved 95 times out of 100 if the exercise was repeated with 100
sets of different panellists. If the range of two operators overlaps, then
these operators offer comparable performance. These ranges are not a
description of the range of speeds actually
measured.
Measuring speeds at peak
times
Ofcom’s report also looks at some aspects of
broadband service reliability. Speeds can fall at peak times due to everyone
trying to access the ISPs network simultaneously.
The
research found that the extent to which speeds were maintained during peak
periods (8pm to 10pm) varied significantly between providers. Average speeds
delivered during peak times ranged from 86% to 96% of maximum
speeds.
Virgin Media’s ‘up to’ 120Mbit/s
experienced the greatest variation between peak-time download speeds and
maximum speeds. The average peak time speed for this type of connection was
108.8Mbit/s – 86% of the maximum speed (126.3Mbit/s).
Fibre connections were less affected by peak time
contention. The peak time download speed on ‘up to’ 76Mbit/s fibre
connections, for example, was 64.0Mbit/s – 96% of the maximum speed
(66.7Mbit/s).
Advertising and promoting broadband
speeds
In
April 2012, guidance on the use of speed claims in broadband was introduced.
This was produced by the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast
Committee of Advertising Practice. The guidance states that advertised speed
claims now have to be achievable by at least 10 per cent of the relevant
ISP’s customer base. Many ISPs have since stopped promoting their
services primarily on the basis of speed.
In
July 2011, Ofcom introduced a strengthened voluntary broadband speeds code of
practice to help ensure consumers are aware of the likely broadband speed they
can get on their line from an ISP, before signing up to a
service.
Last year, Ofcom conducted mystery shopping to check ISPs’
compliance with the code which found that, overall, it is working
effectively.
Ofcom has, however, identified areas where the code
might be strengthened further to better serve consumers and has discussed
improvements with providers. Ofcom expects to publish a revised code of
practice in the coming months.
Ofcom broadband speeds
research
This is Ofcom’s tenth report into fixed-line
residential broadband speeds using data collected by research partner
SamKnows.
The
research examined packages provided by the seven largest ISPs by subscriber
numbers. There were 735 million separate test results recorded in 2,391 homes
during November 2013.
The
report is intended to help consumers understand the significant variations in
the performance of ISP packages and, when considered alongside other factors
such as price, to make more informed purchasing decisions.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- The
research looked at packages provided by the seven largest ISPs by subscriber
numbers. Consumers should note that there are many other services available,
some of which may match or better the performance of some of the ISP packages
included in this report.
- While some consumers are actively choosing to upgrade to
superfast broadband packages to achieve higher speeds, many are benefitting
from improved speeds as a result of internet service providers’
(ISPs’) network upgrades. In many cases, these upgrades are made at
little or no additional cost to the consumer. Virgin Media completed its
‘double speeds’ programme in December 2013 which was a significant
driver in the migration to higher speed packages and the overall increase in
average speeds. BT recently reported that its fibre broadband network, over
which it and other ISPs provide services, is available to 18 million premises
– a number the company anticipates will grow further as the BDUK
programme progresses.
- Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) services use VDSL, a faster
form of DSL technology than ADSL, to transmit data from the street cabinet to
the end-user’s premises, and available speeds over FTTC are therefore
also affected by the length (and quality) of the wiring over which the data
signal is transmitted. In previous reports we have not normalised FTTC test
results to take into account differing ISP user profiles as we do with ADSL.
However, as the rollout of FTTC reaches more rural areas, there is a
possibility that similar systematic biases may arise. We are currently working
with BT Openreach and ISPs to assess whether it is appropriate to normalise
FTTC test results and, if so, how this should be done. While we do this, it is
not appropriate to include individual FTTC service data from the ISP
comparisons section of these reports, and instead include average figures
across all ‘up to’ 38Mbit/s and ‘up to’ 76Mbit/s FTTC
panellists, which are weighted to reflect the market shares of operators within
each service. It is not possible to draw any conclusions regarding the
performance of any individual ISP’s FTTC services based on the summary
‘up to’ 38Mbit/s and ‘up to’ 76Mbit/s FTTC figures
which appear in this report.
- Figure 2: Average download speeds by ISP package.
Source: SamKnows measurement data for all panel members with a connection in
November 2013. Panel Base: 1,878. Notes: (1) Includes only ADSL customers
within 5km of the local exchange and in Geographic Markets 2 and 3 and in the
Kingston-upon-Hull area for Karoo; (2) Includes on-net customers only for LLU
operators (3) Data for ADSL operators have been weighted to ISP regional
coverage of LLU lines and distance from exchange; data for Virgin Media’s
cable service have been weighted to regional coverage only; (4) Data collected
from multi-thread download speed tests; (5) it is not possible to draw any
conclusions regarding the performance of any individual ISP’s FTTC
services based on the summary ‘up to’ 38Mbit/s and ‘up
to’ 76Mbit/s FTTC figures which appear in this report.
- Prior to November/December 2010, speed measurements were
carried out using “single-thread” tests, which involve downloading
one data file. From November/December 2010 onwards “multi-thread”
tests were used to reflect the fact that ADSL2+ technologies were configured to
handle multiple users/processes at the same time. However, as ADSL1
technologies provide similar results for both test methodologies and before
2010, most consumers were on ADSL lines, broad comparisons of national average
speeds are possible between different time periods.
- Ofcom published an in-depth study earlier this year outlining the availability
of different communications services across the UK. This included an
examination of how broadband how availability varies between areas and how it
might be improved to inform future broadband rollout
strategies.
- The
research was conducted in partnership with broadband monitoring company
SamKnows. For more details, visit www.samknows.com. Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition
authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across
television, radio, telecommunications, wireless communications and postal
services.
- For
further information about Ofcom please visit ofcom.org.uk. Ofcom’s news
releases can be found at media.ofcom.org.uk
CONTACT
Lizzi Regan
Ofcom Communications
lizzi.regan@ofcom.org.uk
0300 123 4000