Life in the slow lane

Bad broadband blights rural UK

A QUARTER of homes in rural areas still can’t get a decent internet connection, a damning report has found.

Industry regulator Ofcom says nearly 920,000 properties in the countryside are stuck with go-slow connections, often because they are a long way from a phone exchange.

Overall, 1.4million homes and offices remain unable to sign up for broadband speeds over 10 megabits per second (Mbps), the speed deemed necessary to meet a typical household’s digital needs.

Many of those are in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Last year the Government announced plans for a Universal Service Obligation, giving everyone the legal right to ask for a broadband connection with speeds of 10 Mbps by the end of this Parliament.

Ofcom says reaching the target will need £1.1billion of investment.

Making superfast broadband available to the 3.5 million premises that can’t get it will cost £2bn, it said.

Ofcom’s report also exposes the huge gaps in mobile coverage.

Seven in 10 premises can now get a 4G mobile signal indoors from all four big networks – EE, Vodafone, O2 and EE – up from just 28% last year.

However, Ofcom said many people in rural areas, and those travelling by car and train, suffer from poor signals.

Geographic 4G coverage, where a signal can be received from all four operators, is available for just 40% of the UK landmass – up from 8% in 2015.

And in one third of the UK you still cannot make a voice call using a mobile with all four networks. Steve Unger, Ofcom group director, said: “Mobile and broadband coverage continued to grow this year but too many people and businesses are still struggling for a good service.

“We think that is unacceptable.”

Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms expert at broadband comparison site Cable.co.uk, said: “It’s all very well pointing and saying ‘this many homes have rubbish broadband and diabolical mobile reception’, but the real question remains: How exactly, in each individual case, are we going to achieve that?”