According to a recent article in ZNet, one in 10 British neighbourhoods gets broadband speeds below three megabits per second, despite the UK’s push for super-fast connections. This was the outcome of a survey recently concluded by uSwitch.com.

The survey, based on 1.68 million broadband speed tests conducted by business and residential broadband users, looked at broadband service by postcode. It found that the average UK broadband download speed is 6.7Mbps, and that the deployment of fibre by BT and Virgin is, for many people, “not causing so much a splash as a ripple”.

“What’s really surprising is the number of cities and towns such as Hereford and Carlisle that are suffering from slow broadband speeds, dispelling the view that it’s just rural areas and small towns that have issues with their broadband,” uSwitch.com telecoms chief Julia Stent said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the price comparison site, 34 percent of UK postcodes get less than 5Mbps and 23 percent are on connections slower than 4Mbps. One in 10 get speeds below 3Mbps.

The slowest postcode is TN36, Winchelsea in East Sussex. There, the average broadband speed is just 1.1Mbps. When it comes to larger towns and cities, Hereford (HR1) is bottom of the league at 3.2Mbps.

“Too many people do not appear to be enjoying super-fast speeds because faster services are not available in their area yet,” Stent said, adding that the government’s goal of getting 90 percent of the UK on speeds of 25Mbps or more by 2015 seemed a long way off.

The government has pledged funding of more than £500m to improve fixed-line broadband speeds in England, Scotland and Wales via its Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme, though this has had some glitches. In addition to aiming for 25Mbps for the majority of residents, it is aiming to deliver a minimum of 2Mbps to all.

The average broadband speed of 6.7Mbps that uSwitch.com has reported is significantly lower than the 7.6Mbps average that Ofcom revealed in November, although Ofcom’s survey measured only residential speeds.

Ofcom’s survey was much more comprehensive than uSwitch.com’s effort, being based on 572 million performance tests. The uSwitch.com analysis also discounted any postcode where fewer than 100 speed tests were performed.

The following table shows the UK’s broadband blackspots for towns and cities with populations above 40,000:

The following table shows the worst broadband blackspots in the UK, by average broadband download speed:

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This figures do make for interesting reading. However, I am curious as to how some of the Cambridgeshire towns have not shown up in the figures abiove when we know for a fact that speeds of  1Mb/s are not uncommon. Oh well, that’s surveys for you.

Needless to say, the communities served by Madingley Exchange will soon find their broadband speeds in the superfast league.

I came across this BBC News Technology article recently and thought “what good news”, and timely. It will be if  BT do as it is told.

BT Group will have to cut the prices it charges internet providers and others who sell on services using its lines, Ofcom says. The telecoms regulator wants the cost for use of a broadband and phone line to fall from £91.50 per year to £87.41. The cost of using a broadband line only should also drop from £14.70 per year to £11.92, Ofcom said.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: “We hope it will lead to cheaper broadband and landline prices for consumers.” This is the third time Ofcom has set the prices that Openreach, BT’s wholesale division, charges other companies for using their lines.

The proposals have been submitted to the European Commission which has a month to comment on the changes. If approved, Ofcom expects the changes to come into force from April.

Market power

Ofcom regulates the prices charged by Openreach because, it says, the company has a dominant position in the market. The price changes were welcomed by Talk Talk, one of the communications providers which uses Openreach lines. A spokeswoman said: “We are pleased that the charges are being reduced – this reflects that BT’s charges have been excessive in the past.”

However, in a statement BT told the BBC: “We disagree with some of the underlying assumptions that they have used to determine these charge controls. “Our primary concern throughout this process is to ensure that we are able to achieve a fair rate of return in order to continue our investment in the future of the UK’s communications infrastructure. “We will consider all options available to us, including appealing, after Ofcom confirms its final decisions.”

Downward pressure

Ofcom said that the cuts were based in part on an assessment of the costs Openreach incurred running the network of underground ducts used to carry copper lines to properties. Industry expert Matt Howett, from telecommunications analyst firm Ovum, told the BBC that the proposals followed pressure from Europe to reduce pricing. “The European Commission has been very vocal about trying to bring down the cost for alternative operators to access incumbents’ networks,” he said.

But he added that BT could take its concerns with the proposed price reductions to Ofcom before anything was approved.

“Openreach will say the revisions will stop it from being able to make a fair return to be able to continue to invest in its network.”