Slowest areas for broadband in the UK revealed

Monday 28 January 2019 by Charlotte Whyatt 

New research from consumer rights group Which? has revealed the slowest areas for broadband in the UK. 

At the bottom of the table sits the Scottish Orkney islands and the England-Scotland border district of Allerdale where speeds reach an average of just 3Mb and 5.7Mb respectively. 

The even more remote Shetland Islands actually performed a little better managing to achieve an average speed of 6.7Mb. They’re followed by Argyll & Bute, Moray and the rural Welsh county of Ceredigion where speeds top just 7Mb. 

Surprisingly, speeds in certain areas of Central London also significantly lagged behind the UK average of 16Mb. 

Despite being home to Parliament and many of the country’s biggest financial companies, the average speeds seen in the boroughs of Westminster and City are between 9Mb and 10Mb. 

A lack of fibre cabling is to blame, as the lines between the properties and green street cabinets in these areas either consist entirely of the old copper cables or a mix of the two, known as fibre-to-the-cabinet (or FTTC), both of which aren’t physically capable of providing speeds anywhere close to what full fibre can. 

Broxbourne in Hertfordshire came top with superfast speeds of 32.5Mb and was preceded by Cambridge, Crawley, Nottingham and West Dunbartonshire in Scotland where speeds hover between 27Mb and 32Mb. 

“Having a good broadband connection is a basic requirement for many important everyday tasks, so it is unacceptable that millions of people around the country are still struggling to get what they need," said Alex Neil managing director of home products and services at Which?.

Source: Inews