Slow broadband affects 500,000

MORE than half a million British households and businesses still lack a decent broadband connection, figures have revealed.

The internet speeds are so slow that modern services cannot be used by families, such as streaming music, downloading films or watching videos on Netflix.

Media watchdog Ofcom said the number of properties without a decent connection – defined as a download speed of below ten megabits per second – stood at 578,000 in May.

That is 282,000 fewer than a year ago but the regulator said the figure is still too high.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to end the ‘digital divide’, by bringing cuttingedge internet speeds to the entire country by 2025. This would involve rolling out fibre cables that can provide ‘ultrafast’ speeds of 100 megabits per second – enough to download a film in under two minutes. But the figures reveal about 2pc of the population still cannot access the most basic services. Some households say just one person at a time can be online.

And business groups argue the poor connections hurts the economy as it is harder for entrepreneurs to operate from home.

Concerns have also been raised about homes being built without good connections.

As many as one in eight new homes were unable to get decent broadband, the Mail revealed this year, because they are being hooked up using oldfashioned copper wires.

MPs have previously branded this ‘unacceptable’ and Ofcom is pushing telecoms firms such as BT to improve broadband coverage, calling for fibre cables everywhere. These provide much faster speeds and are more reliable than the copper wires that currently run into most homes.

Changes are also set to be introduced by the regulator next year that will give families a legal right to request better broadband.

In 2020, those receiving poor download speeds of below ten megabits will be able to demand an improved connection under the ‘universal service obligation’.

Separately, the Government is examining the Prime Minister’s plan to roll out fibre nationwide by 2025 after he said a previous target of 2033 was ‘laughably unambitious’.

Andrew Ferguson, an expert at comparison website Thinkbroadband, said: ‘If the Government does deliver on its 2025 ambition, it means the worstcase wait is six years.’