Over A Million Homes in the UK Don’t Get Decent Broadband Says Ofcom

Ofcom Report on broadband

For 1st world countries, a decent broadband service is practically a necessity these days. While this might sound incredibly pretentious, try going a day without any internet. It’s harder than you think.

Despite fiber and high-speed broadband roll-outs in the UK, a recent Ofcom report has found that for many, broadband speeds are still too slow.

In a report via SkyNews, Ofcom has reported that in the UK, over a million homes are still without a ‘decent’ broadband speed.

The report found that roughly 4% of homes in the UK have a speed lower than 10 megabits per second. I am personally aware of many whose speed rarely tops 2mbps, therefore anything approaching 10 would be a dream.

Ofcom has, in fairness, for some time now, been a major critic of internet speeds.

It’s not even just home users affected by this. Ofcom estimates that over 200,000 small business’ are also impacted by sub-par internet speeds.

What is ‘decent’?

The question of what is ‘decent’ is rather subjective. The report, however, would suggest that a speed of around 10mbps is about what most should achieve.

Steve Under, Ofcom’s chief technology officer has said: “Broadband coverage is improving, but our findings show there’s still urgent work required before people and businesses get the services they need. Everyone should have good access to the internet, wherever they live and work. So we are supporting plans for universal broadband, and promoting investment in full-fiber technology that can provide ultra-fast, reliable connections.”

The report comes just weeks after Ofcom formally set a ‘compensation’ package for those affected by poor internet service. In particular, those who suffer outages.

Government guidelines intent to all homes in the UK to have access to high-speed broadband by no later than 2020.

So, while having a poor connection can be very frustrating, it could be worse. At least Ofcom seems set to defend and fight for the public on broadband, unlike the FCC.

What do you think? Do you have a good or poor connection? If bad, how bad? – Let us know in the comments!