Rural broadband three times slower than in nearby cities
social affairs correspondent
BROADBAND speeds in rural areas are up to three times slower than those in neighbouring cities, analysis has found.
Statistics published by the County Councils Network show that more than two thirds of England’s counties are below the national average download speed of 45 Mbps.
Some rural counties lag significantly behind neighbouring urban areas. For example, in North Yorkshire, residents receive an average download speed of 30.2Mbps, compared with York’s aver- age speed of 102Mbps.
The rural district of Ryedale, which includes part of the North York Moors, has average speeds of just 25.8Mbps, less than a fifth of those experienced in the nearby city.
Rural Dorset has average speeds of 26.9 Mbps, less than half those in neighbouring Bournemouth (61.2Mbps). The slowest broadband in Britain is in west Devon, at just 21.8 Mbps.
Ofcom data shows that 91 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK now have access to superfast broadband, defined as 30Mbps. The network said that all but four of the 79 areas that have speeds below this level are based in non-urban counties.
Cllr Philip Atkins, the vice-chairman of the county councils network (CCN) and leader of Staffordshire council, said: “The Government’s commitment to provide superfast broadband to as many areas in England as possible has resulted in some significant steps forward in rural connectivity in the past few years. Counties like Staffordshire are working with national and local partners to connect hard-to-reach rural areas and improve broadband connectivity.”
He added: “It cannot be right that in some areas, businesses and residents in a city less than 10 miles down the road from a rural county benefit from average download speeds of more than three times faster.
“While the government has announced investment in this area, we remain concerned that digital infrastructure in counties isn’t getting the attention it desperately needs.”
Last year, the Government announced that a high-speed broadband connection would be made a legal right for everyone in the UK by 2020.
The Daily Telegraph has been campaigning for better broadband for rural businesses and homes to highlight the damage poor internet connection does to rural communities.