Those of us who get frustrated with our broadband speeds may feel we are in the minority but according to recent findings there may be more households receiving a poor broadband service than originally perceived.
The BBC has conducted its own research and has discovered that as many as 3 million homes have broadband speeds less than two megabits per second (2Mbps). A popular misconception is that slow speeds affect predominantly isolated areas; however, this new research highlights a poor service in surburban areas even streets of major towns.
Since the government has announced plans to ensure that we will all benefit from speeds of 2Mbps and more by 2012 (the strategy outlined in the Digital Britain interim report), it looks as if there is some work to be done to fulfil that promise. As stated by Alex Salter, co-founder of broadband website SamKnows:
"We had assumed that these notspots were in remote parts of the countryside. That may be where the most vocal campaigners are but there is a high incidence of them in commuter belts."
The line length from an exchange to a home is the single most important factor when determining broadband speed. Your home must be no more than 4km away from an exchange in order to get a broadband speed of 2Mbps. This causes problems for those people who live in Basingstoke since half of the telephone lines in the area are more than 6km from the exchange. Hampshire has a poor service overall where at least 25% of households get less than 1Mbps.
As a result, the online experience for many can be extremely frustrating. Alex Salter goes on to explain that "in some cases people aren't able to shop online, aren't able to view certain websites or use social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter and they can't watch the BBC's iPlayer.” In terms of working from home, it is simply not a viable alternative for people who could work from home if only they had a satisfactory service.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, responsible for the Digital Britain report has admitted that the UK is behind other countries which can boast some speeds of up to 100Mbps. However, a BERR spokeswoman states:
"Our view is that given the prevailing conditions and usage in the UK 2Mbps is right."
If you are interested to find out the areas which have a poor broadband service, click on the link http://www.broadbandperformance.co.uk/availabilitymap.aspx. If you want to see how broadband speed results compare in the UK, click on this link http://www.broadbandperformance.co.uk/speedmap.aspx.
privacy and cookies policy