Weak broadband connection ‘unacceptable’ City among worst for internet speed

Canterbury suffers some of the worst broadband speeds in the country, according to new Which? analysis.

The consumer champion found that while rural Scotland and Wales still have Britain’s slowest average connection speeds, many local authority areas including towns and other urban areas are enduring sluggish speeds.

In Kent, Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells were found to be lagging well behind other areas in the county.

Tunbridge Wells had connection speeds of 11.4Mbps - or megabits per second - and Canterbury was not much better, with speeds of 11.5Mbps.

At the other end of the scale, Which? found that the fastest local authority area was commuter borough Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, with an average 32.5Mbps, which is considered “superfast” by both the government and Ofcom.

Downloading a film in Canterbury would take about three times longer than it would in Broxbourne.

The research, using data from Which?’ s broadband speed checker, reveals a lottery when it comes to broadband connectivity.

The government has pledged to ensure a minimum connection speed of 10Mbps across the country.

Which? spokesman Alex Neill said: “Having a good broadband connection is a basic requirement for many important everyday tasks, so it is unacceptable that millions of people around the country are still struggling to get what they need.”