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Published: January 29, 2018 | Source: UK Government | Author: Mark Campbell

UK achieves their 95% Superfast broadband milestone

UK achieves their 95% Superfast broadband milestone

UK achieves their 95% Superfast broadband milestone

The UK Government has officially met their target to have over 95% of UK homes and businesses covered by “SuperFast” Broadband, giving users access to speeds of at least 24Mbps if required. To achieve this goal the government has paid £1.7 billion to rollout superfast broadband into areas that were previously deemed “not commercially viable” giving high-speed internet access to over 4.5 million premises. 

This rollout is designed to close the “digital divide” between large cities and rural areas, though now there is that small 5% of UK homes and businesses that remain unable to access high-speed broadband. 

During the rollout of high-speed broadband, an estimated £8.9 billion in turnover has been generated in areas that were covered by the deployment, creating an estimated 50,000 jobs. The UK government met their broadband target in December, barely reaching their 95% target before the start of 2017. Right now only 95.01% of the nation is covered with high-speed 24Mbps broadband. 

  

UK achieves their 95% Superfast broadband milestone  

In Think Broadband’s latest data, the UK is listed as having 94.7% coverage for Superfast broadband, though this is due to differences between the UK and EU definitions for the term. The UK states that Superfast broadband is 24Mbps while the EU is more ambitious with a 30Mbps target. 

The government’s latest broadband target is the elimination of sub-10Mbps internet connections by 2020 by making access to 10Mbps internet speeds a legal right. The Government also plans to roll out 24 Mbps broadband to 98% of the nation during this timeframe. 

The DCMS Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, had this to say regarding the Government’s future plans. 

     Over the last 5 years, the Government’s rollout of superfast broadband has made superfast speeds a reality for more than 4.5 million homes and businesses who would otherwise have missed out. We’ve delivered on our commitment to reach 95% of homes and businesses in the UK, but there’s still more to do in our work building a Britain that’s fit for the future. We’re reaching thousands more premises every single week, and the next commitment is to making affordable, reliable, high speed broadband a legal right to everyone by 2020.

SuperFast Broadband UK Definition (24Mbps) EU Definition (Over 30Mbps)
UK 95.01% 94.7%
England 95.5% 95.2%
Scotland 93.4% 93.1%
Wales 94.2% 93.8%
Northern Ireland 86.7% 85.8%

 
At this time England is leading the charge towards high-speed broadband, with Northern Ireland trailing behind their mainland counterpart offering the only sub-90% coverage rating. 

You can join the discussion on the UK achieving their “Superfast broadband” milestones on the OC3D Forums. 

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