People living in Essex and Wales may well be suffering the slowest internet speeds in the whole of the country, lagging far behind the national average, a new survey has found.
Comparison site uSwitch examined a range of streets across the UK to examine which areas had the slowest broadband connection speeds.
Using data from nearly two million consumer speed tests in fifty streets over a six-month period the survey crowned Wheatley Road in Corringham, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, and Erw Fawr in Henryd, Conwy, Wales, as the UK’s slowest streets, as both reported an average speed of 0.60Mbps, 30 times slower than the UK average speed of 17.8Mbps.
In fact, four in 10 (40%) British citizens currently experience speeds of under 5Mbps, meaning it would take them a significantly long time to download films or television shows, despite an Ofcom report released last week stating that one in four UK homes had access to so-called ‘superfast’ broadband.
"There are still areas in the UK which experience broadband speeds so slow the service is negligible," said uSwitch broadband expert Marie-Louise Abretti. "At the same time, superfast broadband connections are becoming more widely available but – as our research suggests – these are clearly not being utilised."
The highest speed in the UK was can be found in Loundes Road in Unstone, Dronfield, Derbyshire, whose speeds of 57.58Mbps were 96 times faster than Wheatley Road and Erw Fawr, highlighting the major disparity between certain areas.
"Broadband is now widely considered the fourth utility, but our speed test data shows that not everyone is getting a decent service," continued Abretti, who added that she believes more needs to be done to increase awareness of availability and cost of superfast broadband services.
"Poor connectivity can severely affect local businesses, impact house prices and children’s education, which is why it’s crucial the government keeps its eye on the ball when it comes to improving UK broadband infrastructure, particularly in remote rural areas."
