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back to article 97% of UK gets 'basic' 2Mbps broadband. 'Typical households' need 10Mbps – Ofcom

Most Brits can get broadband at home these days, according to regulator Ofcom, but the service is still pretty patchy. The telecoms authority said 97 per cent of folks in Blighty are able to get at least basic broadband of 2Mbps, and altogether 15 per cent of people are stuck below the 10Mbps mark. Ofcom considers this speed …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Errr WTF?

    Quote

    However, around 18 per cent of households don’t have any internet at all.

    So? There are some people who don't want it or are just not inclined to use it. Like owning a car. Most people do have a license. not 100%. There are people who have a license who don't want a car. so Car ownership could never be 100% so why is Internet use any different?

    My 90 somthing mother can use the internet. She uses it in the Public Library. As she says, there is a time and place for everything. It not only gets her out of the house but she meets a lot of her friends at the Cafe attached to the Library. I did suggest that she had internet at home. I got shot down in flames in no time at all.

    Anyone aiming to get 100% of the population on the internet are smoking something highly illegal IMHO.

    16 7 Reply
    1. John Arthur
      Reply Icon

      Re: Errr WTF?

      I think the aim is not to force people to have internet access at home if they don't want it. The aim is to have it available at 10Mbps or greater IF YOU WANT IT no matter where you live. A laudable aim, no?

      And it's licence on the east side of the pond

      17 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Custard
        Reply Icon
        Big Brother

        Re: Errr WTF?

        I note that they're not clear whether this 10Mbps is before or after your ISP throttles it when you actually try and use it though...

        4 1 Reply
      2. PNGuinn
        Reply Icon

        Re: Errr WTF?

        Want a bet? Its sooo much easier to track / monitor you in your own home.

        Besides, if you are trying to evade the Internet Tax you're obviously some kind of nasty criminal etc etc...

        WON'T ANYBODY THINK OF THE SPOOKS?

        0 2 Reply
    2. Annihilator
      Reply Icon

      Re: Errr WTF?

      Weird stats all round:

      "The telecoms authority said 97 per cent of folks in Blighty are able to get at least basic broadband of 2Mbps, and altogether 15 per cent of people are stuck below the 10Mbps mark."

      So 85% gets at least 10Mbps? Rather strangely worded headline suggesting that "97% of UK gets 'basic' 2Mbps broadband" when really it's "97% of UK could get *at least* 2Mbps *if they wanted it*"

      2 0 Reply
  2. Anomalous Cowshed

    Typical households need 10Mbps

    Why do they need such a thing? To keep in touch with their relatives? To check their e-mail? To look at ads? To exchange cat videos? To watch pornography online? What could be motivating the dear, caring government to insist on ensuring that EVERYBODY has at least 10 Mbps broadband at home?

    7 11 Reply
    1. Truth4u
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      well yeah, all of those things.

      Its like the difference between having a card-op leccy meter and a real one. Sure you can live like that, but its not exactly an aspirational standard for the whole country is it?

      10 3 Reply
    2. LucreLout
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      What could be motivating the dear, caring government to insist on ensuring that EVERYBODY has at least 10 Mbps broadband at home?

      Well, if the next labour government are as in love with Orwells 1984 as the last one, I can only presume it is to enable the installation of Telescreens?

      19 0 Reply
      1. RegGuy1 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        Er, because more than one person may need to connect to the Internet at the same fucking time?

        1 0 Reply
        1. Dave Bell
          Reply Icon

          Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

          I have a suspicion that the awkward part of the network is supplied by the ISP. The wholesale line syncs at sufficient speed for me, but the usable speed I get has reduced. Streaming video needs to sustain enough capacity to be delivered live. If you want to download content to watch later you don't need continuous good speed. That sustained high speed needs to be between you and such things as ISP caching servers for live data deliveries such as streaming video and games.

          I've got enough capacity on my broadband line to my house. The internet connections that link my local BT exchange to the world have become the bottleneck, not the copper wire that carries the ADSL.And I am not sure if these figures actually measure anything useful.

          0 0 Reply
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      "What could be motivating the dear, caring government to insist on ensuring that EVERYBODY has at least 10 Mbps broadband at home?"

      They have shares in the telcos and equipment providers. Only reason it makes sense. Otherwise people would be wondering if it's linked to that fact that "always on" makes it easier to do "always watched" ...

      3 2 Reply
    4. Jim Willsher
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      My home happens to also be my workplace. So yes, I would like 10Mb or better please.

      9 1 Reply
      1. NoOnions
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        Why on earth has someone down-voted you?

        0 0 Reply
    5. Lee D Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      Renew your tax disc if you work and your local post office is closed at 5:00:00.000001 pm.

      Submit your tax return using the much easier online system.

      Do your legally-required kids homework that's heavily online-based nowadays as school more to virtual learning environments.

      Do online banking to pay your bills.

      Comparison shop among suppliers of basic utilities.

      Research legal issues, benefit entitlement, etc. online.

      Apply for jobs (good luck doing this offline nowadays,with anything but manual-labour jobs).

      Research, and vote, political candidates online.

      There's a TON of things that need half-decent Internet access, and 56K modems aren't any good for people any more. If you have a household of average proportions, and even if you decide to do without all the above (somehow), it's making your life harder than necessary, killing trees, increasing costs and making everything take longer than the digital alternative would.

      Hell, my doctor's surgery sends prescriptions electronically now.

      The digital world is coming, and much like electricity was new once, it will soon become (if it hasn't already) a utility service. And that means a service obligation of a pittance of megabits (my phone can do three times 10mbps on a £10 a month basic package) to ensure that people can do them without being conned into oblivion by their ISP.

      At one time, landlines weren't available to all, water wasn't available to all, gas wasn't available to all, sewage wasn't available to all, electricity wasn't available to all, postal services weren't available to all, etc. When we realised the benefits - not just for the householder but overall as a populous - they were mandated and regulated to ensure continuous service.

      The government probably saves SO MUCH MONEY by offering online services for things like tax returns that it's happy to FORCE ISP's to provide a basic service so that they can move everyone over to it.

      19 1 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        If mid Norfolk, where my parents are still uses dial-up due to distance from exchange, I'm sure if you add up highlands and coastal regions, plus outlying hamlets, you'd find closer to 65% of the country get 2Mb or better

        2 3 Reply
        1. Interim Project Manager
          Reply Icon

          Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

          Maybe, like a few people I know, they pay for an up to "2Mbps" package and as such count in the 97% stat but in reality don't get anywhere near that. It is the minimum package available.

          0 2 Reply
        2. Terry 14
          Reply Icon

          Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

          You would be surprised, I went to the very north of Scotland for my holiday this year, and they are installing mile upon mile of fibre to areas that are very sparsely populated.

          I live 40 miles north of London and get 5Mbps on a good day.

          1 0 Reply
          1. Gavin Park Weir
            Reply Icon

            Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

            Scotland has generous grants to rural areas to develop that own rural broadband programs. they seem to be awash with cash for this sort of project. We can't even get £350 per household in deepest darkest Hampshire in order to deliver fibre to the cabinet.

            1 0 Reply
            1. Anonymous Coward
              Reply Icon
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

              "Scotland has generous grants to rural areas"

              Good to see that the Scots government was flush for cash before the promises to throw even more money over the border if the Scots would vote "no".

              2 3 Reply
      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        "sewage wasn't available to all,"

        No, sewerage wasn't available to all. Sewage, on the other hand, has always been available free of charge and regardless of income, on a SIY basis.

        10 0 Reply
        1. Wardy01
          Reply Icon

          Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

          Sewage is a utility you pay for is it not?

          Part of your water rates.

          I guess those on benefits get this free though.

          0 1 Reply
      3. PNGuinn
        Reply Icon
        Coat

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        "At one time, landlines weren't available to all, water wasn't available to all, gas wasn't available to all, sewage wasn't available to all, electricity wasn't available to all, postal services weren't available to all, etc. When we realised the benefits - not just for the householder but overall as a populous - they were mandated and regulated to ensure continuous service."

        Err...

        Sewage: Still an awful lot of septic tanks out there in the sticks.

        Leccy: At the moment. Wait for smart meters. I won't make the obvious suggestion...

        Post: Give it just a little while.

        Etc: Don't even have that service here now.

        1 0 Reply
      4. jonathanb Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        I think you will find that more people can get a BT (or Kingston) connection of some description than can get access to mains water and sewerage.

        1 0 Reply
      5. Terry Barnes
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        ", it will soon become (if it hasn't already) a utility service. And that means a service obligation"

        Do you know what proportion of the population has no access to mains sewerage or gas? It might surprise you. Across England, Wales, Scotland it's 20% without mains gas. In Northern Ireland it's 80% without access to it. 3% of the population have to use septic tanks as they have no access to the sewer system. Mains water only reaches 99% of the population.

        Provision of utility services are by no means universal.

        0 0 Reply
      6. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        "At one time, landlines weren't available to all, water wasn't available to all, gas wasn't available to all, sewage wasn't available to all, electricity wasn't available to all, postal services weren't available to all, etc. When we realised the benefits - not just for the householder but overall as a populous - they were mandated and regulated to ensure continuous service."

        I believe gas and mains sewers still aren't universal. I live in a village that can't get mains gas even though a main pipeline runs just outside the village (so there's a profitable business in delivering gas bottles or filling tanks, and oil central heating too), and there are people who have to use septic tanks.

        I've had decent internet for a while though

        0 0 Reply
      7. Wardy01
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        If the gov is saving money and they tax us less as result I say sure, do it!

        Force the ISP's to get off their arses and deliver the advertised / sold speed not this "up to" crap.

        But that'll never happen!

        0 0 Reply
    6. Annihilator
      Reply Icon
      Facepalm

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      "Why do they need such a thing? To keep in touch with their relatives? To check their e-mail? To look at ads? To exchange cat videos? To watch pornography online? What could be motivating the dear, caring government to insist on ensuring that EVERYBODY has at least 10 Mbps broadband at home?"

      I'm sure there were arguing the same when they built 3-lane motorways.

      3 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        "I'm sure there were arguing the same when they built 3-lane motorways."

        They most certainly were. I recall one of the public consultation meeting prior to construction of the north west quadrant from Maple Cross to the M1. My father had a very heated discussion with some DfT flunkies, who insisted that the data really didn't justify building even three lanes, but they were being generous providing three. The DfT also couldn't see the logic of building a tunnel under Leavesden Airfield. That would have cut two miles off the route, and the fuel savings would have balanced the books in around 18 months IIRC, but as usual, government's poor solution had been pre-selected, and the consultation was a sham.

        Now the successors to those DfT knobs are doing the same thing in reverse with HS2, of making up the traffic numbers, raising the fictitious traffic numbers to the power of imaginary benefits, all to justify something which isn't needed.

        4 4 Reply
    7. Aqua Marina
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

      >>Typical households need 10Mbps

      >>Why do they need such a thing?

      Probably in the same way I "need" a TV and radio entertainment. Life gets pretty dull without it.

      My 2mbps connection I have located 2 miles outside of Wigan town centre, is incapable of playing low quality youtube videos without stuttering. Netflix is impossible. Internet radio only works as long as someone else in the house isn't browsing the internet at the same time. My online gaming is marred with constant disconnects.

      2meg may seem a lot, considering when ADSL came out that it was a premium service and 256-512 was the norm. But nowdays, the speed of browsing the internet seems on par with trying to browse the internet using a 56k modem 10 years ago. 10 years has passed, and the minimum web page size has multiplied by 10.

      1 2 Reply
      1. Wardy01
        Reply Icon

        Re: Typical households need 10Mbps

        Websites are getting bigger, image qualities are rising, more "client side" functionality is added through javascript based "web applications" and on top of all that you're competing with 50 other people jst on that local pipe to your green box at the end of the road.

        Having been there I feel for people in this situation, this to me simply re-affirms my position: ofcom is not fit for purpose.

        2mb is enough, if those sold it actually get it but as with pretty much all BT lines we are sold "up to" a speed not "this is what you will get" type contracts.

        These stats IMO mean absolutely nothing as all they prove is that BT can sell broken promises and still be seen to deliver whilst taking less money and making more profit.

        At least the shareholders are happy right?

        0 0 Reply
  3. SolidSquid

    I'm curious where they get their information for this study from. Of the last 4 places I've stayed (in as many years, and 2 in a city centre), only 1 has had cable access. With the other 3 I've been told by the cable company that it was available until I went through the order process and gave them the full address rather than just postcode, at which point it stopped being available. If they're just going by the same postcode data the providers use then they could be over-estimating the number who can get more than 5mbps by quite a bit

    1 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      " I've been told by the cable company th..."

      Are you in the UK? In the vast majority of cases, fixed broadband is provided by Virgin Media (an amalgamation of all the former cable TV companies) or ISPs selling services over BT's copper network. Both are capable of speeds beyond 20Mbps.

      I'm puzzled by your terminology.

      1 0 Reply
      1. YetAnotherPasswordToRemeber
        Reply Icon

        Just because something is capable doesn't mean that it does. I live 2 miles from my local exchange and the maximum I can get is 4Mbps, so I am puzzled by your comment!

        2 1 Reply
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          I live down the road from the exchange, since the cabinet was upgraded for fibre, even though i'm on ADSL I now get 23mbps.

          I'm confused how anyone can survive on less.

          0 0 Reply
      2. skipper409
        Reply Icon

        just to be clear....I get 1.5 Mbs - thats because I tampered with my router's SNR settings. My less knowledgeable neighbours manage 256 kBs. I dont get mains gas. I dont get mains sewers. My mobile signal (literally) requires me to be upstairs in one particular room, & the weather needs to be good. I live in the middle of a village in the Midlands of England, so goodness knows how people in remote places cope. All these services are necessary to have a modern home life, so the Government needs to get off its collective backside & provide it, or force the utilities to invest. Crass comments for those 'with' are not required!

        6 1 Reply
        1. Hawknic
          Reply Icon

          I'm with you skipper409

          No mains gas or drainage, crap mobile coverage and bugger all internet connectivity. We aren't very rural either, only a mile from a reasonable size town (in SE England too, oh the deprivation!) So 97% sounds bloody high to me.

          Personally I'd love to see universal access to even 2M, but I don't get 10M as a valid baseline. Ask people what they need and they'll generally say a bit more than they have right now even though they're doing fine.

          We manage to stream non-HD and do all the normal stuff (including running a small business) with a half meg connection (was 300k before we moved to Sky from BT) though it is a ball-ache. 10 sounds like a luxury to me - great if you can get it, and fine as a future-proofing measure, but as a minimum today? The government investing in Gb connectivity seems a bit guff, way more than anyone who can't afford to pay for it would need.

          Best way of improving something is to shift the bottom quartile upwards, not stretch the top.

          Can someone direct me to the SNR settings that skipper talks about?

          3 1 Reply
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          @skipper409

          "All these services are necessary to have a modern home life, so the Government needs to get off its collective backside & provide it, or force the utilities to invest"

          No these services are not "necessary" to have a modern life, they are nice to have. If you can't stream HD grumble or ten concurrent cat videos then your quality of life won't be harmed. Your mobile service is about the same as I enjoy living in a large town, and I find that my quality of life is not unduly ruined. Septic tanks in my experience are not much more expensive than water company charges (and you shouldn't by the sound of it be paying the "surface water drainage charges" that most urban dwellers cannot avoid). And if there's no gas grid, you've got a range of alternatives including oil, coal, propane, wood/biomass, or even a heat pump (the last two attract fat government subsidies).

          If you want the services available in a town, maybe YOU have to get off YOUR backside, and move somewhere these services can be provided economically, instead of demanding that the rest of us subsidise your choice of career and home. OR you can continue to enjoy the many benefits of rural living (and possibly working) and accept that the cost of that is limited provision of infrastructure and slightly higher cost of living.

          4 5 Reply
          1. skipper409
            Reply Icon

            Re: @skipper409

            nice troll

            1 0 Reply
  4. Julz

    What about upload?

    The internet is not just about streaming films and watching cat videos. Oh, bugger...

    14 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous C0ward
      Reply Icon

      Re: What about upload?

      Yeah, don't forget about the porn.

      1 0 Reply
  5. ukgnome

    Who cares about download?

    It's no good having a 2MB download speed when you can't back anything up because your upload speed is pants.

    9 0 Reply
  6. Jim 59

    The probable reason an "average household" would need 10 Mb/s would be different family members streaming video at the same time. It might help to use tools like get_iplayer, to "time shift" and stagger the traffic. ie. download 3 episodes of "The Missing" when your router is quiet. It might help if the BBC would facilitate downloading rather than trying to foil it all the time. Same for other TV companies.

    5 0 Reply
    1. JEDIDIAH
      Reply Icon
      Linux

      Bloat and crapulence overload

      Nah. With all of the crap that gets included on modern webpages these days, you need more speed just to deal with the bloat. I remember when I thought a whole 1meg down was the bee's knees. Wouldn't want to be stuck with that now. Modern web pages are far too bloated. Some sites include scripts from so many different hosts that they can't all fit on my no-script pop up menu.

      Then there are things like Debian repositories, Steam, and other assorted sources of software updates.

      3 0 Reply
      1. Jim 59
        Reply Icon

        Re: Bloat and crapulence overload

        I agree some sites are needlessly obese and can only blame themselves for slow performance. But they are the bottleneck, not your download speed. It's streaming video which is the real baddy.

        Personally I don't like streaming. The name "streaming" makes you think it is some super fast, slick technology, but it just means watching something in-place, and taking all the drawbacks that come with that, one of which is inefficient, peaky use of your download capacity (and the supplier's servers). The BBC et al have a "broadcast" mindset, when a torrent/time shifting approach would be better.

        1 1 Reply
  7. msknight

    Offcom not fit to oversee.

    I agree with Julz. I do video blogging and all sorts, and some games require a decent upload from the client as well. Ofcom's stupid fixation with download speed just shows that they are not a fit and proper body to regulate/oversee UK broadband provision.

    4 2 Reply
    1. Jim 59
      Reply Icon

      Re: Offcom not fit to oversee.

      @msknight Naff upload speed is pretty much a feature of ADSL, not an oversight by Ofcom or your ISP. I host a few websites including a Wordpress blog, and would love upload faster than my 1 Mb/s (download is 17 Mb.s). For really fast uploads though, you are looking at a business account and they are pricey.

      Only a few years ago my first proper broadband was 512k down. Not quite as bad as it sounds as websites were much lighter.

      1 0 Reply
  8. Dr Paul Taylor

    Link please

    Please can we have a link to this Ofcom report, and maybe to any other available statements of what ADSL speed it is "reasonable" to expect, because I am getting nothing like what it says here.

    0 1 Reply
  9. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

    very misleading headline.

    According to the report, as quoted in the article, 97% if UK households get at least 2Mbit/s. There's no way the average would be 23Mbit/s if 97% were only getting 2, unless the other 3% were near Gbit/s speeds.

    The comment that and altogether 15 per cent of people are stuck below the 10Mbps mark. suggests that 85% get 10Mbit/s or better, which isn't bad at all. I wish I could get 10. Or even 5.

    3 1 Reply
    1. Lee D Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: very misleading headline.

      Not really.

      If that 97% were getting 24mbps, it would soon bring up the average much quicker than you suggest.

      Given that basic offerings now are ADSL2+ at 24mbps, or VDSL at anything up to 80Mbps, with Virgin cable going into ridiculous speeds, and even 4G networks giving me 25Mbps+ in both directions, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

      Don't forget, they are using the theoretical maximum for the most part - just because I don't want to pay a small fortune for 120Mbps cable, that means nothing to the statistics. Technically I'm counted as that speed because it's available to me, not because I'm actually using it.

      So you have an awful lot of the population on 24Mbps at least, even if they are cheap packages and dodgy phone lines. It's only the 3% out in the sticks where the ISP's cannot even guarantee basic ADSL that bring the numbers down.

      2 1 Reply
      1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        @Lee D Re: very misleading headline.

        I thunk you misread my comemnt.

        The headline claims that "97% of UK gets 'basic' 2Mbps broadband". The article itself repeats a claim in the report that the UK average is 23Mbit/s. Those two figures don't add up, because the headline is wrong.

        What the report is quoted as saying is that 97% of the population get at least 'basic' 2Mbps broadband, which is not the impression given by the headline.

        Of course if the 97% were getting 24 Mbit/s the average would be around that figure.

        1 0 Reply

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