The best cities for superfast broadband

A new Ofcom study into how broadband speeds vary across cities has thrown up some interesting contrasts.

A new study into superfast broadband by Ofcom has revealed which cities enjoy the most access to speedy internet connections.

While regulator Ofcom’s research on broadband coverage, take-up and speeds has tended to concentrate on rural areas in the past, a new study investigating superfast broadband availability has turned the focus to major cities.

The table below breaks down 11 cities across the UK and the level of access they have to superfast broadband connections (from BT or Virgin Media).

City	Level of access to superfast broadband
Derry/Londonderry	99%
Belfast	98%
Cambridge	96%
Bangor	95%
Cardiff	92%
Birmingham	91%
Exeter	90%
London	88%
Manchester	86%
Glasgow	67%
Inverness	2%

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Slower internet in poorer areas

Ofcom found that a “significant minority” of people in urban areas didn’t have access to superfast broadband speeds, and were therefore putting up with subpar internet access, when it looked closer at case studies from six of the cities.

While the findings might be partially explained by the reasoning that lower incomes prevented people from purchasing top-speed deals, it was also found that superfast broadband was less widely available in parts of the city where people had lower income.

Around 4.1% of premises in the six cities surveyed were unable to receive a speed faster than 2Mbit/s – down 1.4% from 2012. Ofcom said that this could be down to operators maximising revenue by rolling out next-generation access (NGA) broadband in better-off areas first.

The table below shows the six cities which were compared by the proportion of users with <2Mbit/s connections, and the proportion of premises in that city where NGA broadband was available.

City	<2Mbit/s connections	NGA broadband availability
London	3.7%	88.4%
Birmingham	4.2%	91.3%
Manchester	5.5%	86.3%
Glasgow	5.5%	66.6%
Cardiff	7.7%	90.9%
Belfast	3.8%	98.1%

Bar Cardiff and Glasgow, these cities shared the common trend that as the income improved, fewer people had <2Mbit/s connections.

Glasgow was found to have a low overall availability of NGA broadband; in the most income-deprived areas of the city, NGA availability fell to just above 20%.

Building on the findings

Ofcom has started another programme of work to analyse the availability of communications services in urban areas, looking at the factors affecting take-up. This new study will aim to understand which groups of people are most or least likely to sign up for communication services. Ofcom expects to publish its findings later this year.

It will also publish the new edition of its Infrastructure Report in September.

Broadband availability continues to improve as suppliers reach out to new areas – Ofcom research found that there was an increase in NGA availability and a decrease in the number of <2Mbit/s connections since 2012, a trend that they say is expected to continue in the next few years.

BT, for example, announced in January a £50 million investment which will be used to bring more fibre-optic connections to urban spaces.

To find out which broadband provider might be best for you or could have the most benefits, read The UK’s best and worst broadband providers and The best broadband freebies and incentives.

Compare broadband deals at broadbandchoices.co.uk