The government is on track to achieve its goal of 85% of the UK having full-fibre, gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, based on the latest statistics from Ofcom. Right now, 20.7 million homes can access full-fibre broadband, which is about 69% of all households. That’s a jump from 57% just last September. When we factor in homes with cable connections, around 83% of the country already enjoys gigabit broadband capabilities.
Northern Ireland leads the pack with 94% of residential properties having full-fibre access, while Wales sits at 74%. The government’s £5 billion Project Gigabit, launched in 2021, aims to speed up recovery from the pandemic. It focuses on areas with slower internet that commercial companies often overlook, granting rural communities access to top-tier broadband, which can help boost the economy.
Natalie Black from Ofcom highlighted how significant this year has been for broadband in the UK, emphasizing that whether you’re running a business or shopping online, more people than ever can tap into fast and dependable connections. Yet, there’s still a gap in getting households onboard with gigabit services. As of July, only 35% of households—about 7.5 million—had signed up for full-fibre. That’s an improvement from 28% in May, but rural areas lead the charge, with over half of homes—52%—taking advantage of high-speed connectivity, compared to just 32% in urban areas.
The uptake of “superfast” broadband, with speeds of at least 30 Mbit/s, now stands at 75%, up from 72%. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Starlink has gained traction in the UK, with 87,000 connections, mostly in rural locations, a notable rise from 42,000 last year.
However, 5G mobile services still have a lot of work ahead. Currently, 5G is available in 42% of urban sites but only 16% in rural areas, despite 95% of the country being able to receive coverage from at least one mobile operator. The recent merger of Vodafone and Three is expected to enhance 5G rollout, thanks to a legally binding investment plan of £11 billion to gain approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.
Mobile data traffic continues to shift towards 5G, with 21% of it now being carried over these connections. Total monthly mobile traffic has risen by 18% this year, reaching 1,069 petabytes, although this is a slowdown from the 25% growth of the previous year.
Recent advancements have brought full-fibre networks to rural areas in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, West Lincolnshire, and the New Forest. Project Gigabit also attracted new players into the broadband market, challenging traditional providers like Openreach and Virgin Media. Companies like City Fibre are making significant strides, and smaller networks, known as altnets, including Community Fibre, Toob, and MS3, are becoming competitive in their regions.