March 2019 update on broadband availability across the UK, nations and regions
For a few months now we have been finding a lot of Openreach FTTP, the bulk of this has been on the Fibre First exchanges but areas like new build homes is continuing to see the ratio of VDSL2 to FTTP shift towards the FTTP end as while we are still processing the latest set of new postcodes 2019 is running at around 68% compared to 2018 at 64%. The late phases of the various BDUK projects are also delivering much more FTTP than they did a couple of years ago and in a number of cases the amount of FTTP seen each week is higher than the amount of VDSL2.
The UK superfast coverage figure has increased this month by 0.1% but all the big changes are down in the FTTP and ultrafast columns. The figures for those eligible to request a better broadband connection under the broadband Universal Service Obligation due in 2020 has dropped from 875,616 to 859,784 and would have lower if it was not for the number of new build that appear with only ADSL2+ as their fixed line broadband. Remember our USO figure includes those with ADSL2+ even if able to sync at 21999 Kbps and 1010 Kbps upload, whether the administration of the USO will take a similar view that ADSL2+ does not meet the USO in any form will only be known for certain once the detail of how Ofcom are running the obligation appears later this year.
| thinkbroadband analysis of Superfast, USC, USO and Full Fibre Broadband Coverage across the UK, its nations and regions for premises In descending order of superfast coverage - figures 7th April 2019 (change since 7th March 2019) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | % full and partial fibre based i.e. VDSL2, G.fast or FTTP or Cable | % superfast 24 Mbps or faster | % superfast 30 Mbps or faster | % Ultrafast 100 Mbps or faster FTTP, cable, G.fast | % Full Fibre All Providers Openreach and KCOM FTTP | % Under 2 Mbps download | % Below USO 10 Mbps download 1 Mbps upload ADSL2+ does not count as USO compliant |
| North East | 98.5% | 97.5% (=) | 97.3% | 55.0% (-0.1) | 1.39% (+0.04) 0.51% (+0.05) |
0.2% | 1.9% |
| 962.979 Premises | 948,234 | 939,006 | 936,957 | 529,930 | 13,403 4,913 |
2,007 | 18,357 |
| East Midlands | 99.1% | 97.5% (=) | 97.2% | 61.8% (=) | 3.53% (+0.25) 1.2% (0.25) |
0.3% | 1.6% |
| 1,152,032 Premises | 1,141,541 | 1,123,337 | 1,119,463 | 711,890 |
40,708 |
3,855 | 18,113 |
| South East | 99% | 97.4% (+0.1) | 97% | 57.1% (+0.1) | 5.47% (+0.29) 2.29% (+0.14) |
0.2% | 1.6% |
| 2,254,023 Premises | 2,231,308 | 2,194,477 | 2,186,036 | 1,287,718 | 123,393 51,550 |
5,605 | 35,858 |
| London | 98% | 97.2% (=) | 97.1% | 74.4% (+0.1) | 10.35% (+0.67) 3.72% (+0.52) |
0.1% | 2.3% |
| 4,637,085 Premises | 4,543,787 | 4,508,554 | 4,500,535 | 3,448,723 | 480,033 172,342 |
4,472 | 105,121 |
| West Midlands | 98.6% | 97.2% (+0.1) | 97% | 67.3% (+0.2) | 4.08% (+0.60) 2.23% (+0.59) |
0.3% | 2% |
| 2,895,539 Premises | 2,853,769 | 2,813,524 | 2,806,996 | 1,949,938 | 118,261 64,448 |
7,475 | 59,227 |
| North West | 98.7% | 96.8% (+0.1) | 96.5% | 53.1% (+0.2) | 4.77% (+0.54) 3.18% (+0.49) |
0.5% | 2.2% |
| 4,057,457 Premises | 4,003,651 | 3,928,865 | 3,915,998 | 2,153,436 | 193,519 129,186 |
20,412 | 91,108 |
| England | 98.3% | 96.5% (+0.1) | 96.2% | 59.6% (+0.1) | 6.77% (+0.48) 3.74% (+0.42)(includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.4% | 2.5% |
| 25,014,769 Premises | 24,587,553 | 24,138,708 | 24,055,840 | 14,903,661 | 1,693,818 934,436 |
95,683 | 621,740 |
| Great Britain | 98.2% | 96.2% (+0.1) | 95.8% | 57.2% (+0.1) | 6.54% (+0.47) 3.67% (+0.40)(includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.5% | 2.8% |
| 29,162,219 Premises | 28,630,109 | 28,050,779 | 27,950,349 | 16,693,168 | 1,906,762 1,068,590 |
139,360 | 803,779 |
| United Kingdom | 98.2% | 96% (+0.1) | 95.6% | 56.9% (+0.2) | 6.89% (+0.59) 4.01% (+0.53) (includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.6% | 2.9% |
| 29,981,190 Premises | 29,443,158 | 28,782,425 | 28,675,375 | 17,052,757 | 2,064,814 1,202,285 |
173,517 | 859,784 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 97.7% | 96% (+0.2) | 95.7% | 58.9% (+0.1) | 11.78% (+0.56) 9.01% (+0.57)(includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.5% | 3.1% |
| 2,669,146 Premises | 2,609,068 | 2,563,194 | 2,555,234 | 1,573,235 | 314,406 240,535 |
12,337 | 81,724 |
| East of England | 98.3% | 95.7% (+0.1) | 95.2% | 53.7% (+0.1) | 3.4% (+0.15) 1.48% (+0.03) |
0.5% | 2.8% |
| 2,719,160 Premises | 2,672,042 | 2,601,672 | 2,587,183 | 1,459,762 | 92,496 40,349 |
13,398 | 75,651 |
| Wales | 97.8% | 95.1% (+0.1) | 94.7% | 36.6% (+0.1) | 7.5% (+0.36) 6.22% (+0.25) |
0.7% | 3.5% |
| 1,436,269 Premises | 1,403,973 | 1,366,326 | 1,360,079 | 526,441 | 107,742 89,309 |
10,540 | 50,910 |
| Scotland | 97.3% | 93.9% (+0.1) | 93.5% | 46.6% (+0.2) | 3.88% (+0.38) 1.69% (+0.34) |
1.2% | 4.8% |
| 2,711,181 Premises | 2,638,583 | 2,545,745 | 2,534,430 | 1,263,066 | 105,202 45,845 |
33,137 | 131,129 |
| South West | 97.7% | 94.5% (=) | 94% | 48.8% (+0.2) | 8.66% (+0.59) 5.93% (+0.55) |
0.7% | 3.7% |
| 3,667,348 Premises | 3,584,153 | 3,466,078 | 3,447,438 | 1,789,029 | 317,599 217,329 |
26,122 | 136,581 |
| Northern Ireland | 99.3% | 89.3% (+0.1) | 88.5% | 43.9% (+0.7) | 19.3% (+5.01) 16.2% (+5.05) |
4.2% | 7.1% |
| 818,971 Premises | 813,049 | 731,646 | 725,026 | 359,589 | 158,052 132,052 |
34,157 | 58,537 |
Our tracking of what Openreach is delivering only just passed the 1 million FTTP premises mark on 4th April but just 3 days later this is now at 1,017,361 premises and if the pace we have been finding FTTP at in the last 3 months was to continue we could see the Openreach 3 million premises passed target met before 31st December 2020. In the last month we have found 160,925 more premises of Openreach FTTP has been found which works out at 40,000 a week, the last official declared pace from Openreach was 14,000 premises so there is plenty of scope for them announcing an increase in pace once the BT Group financials are published in a few weeks. We would guess at maybe around 20,000 premises per week might be announced, this is not as high as we have been seeing because we have been playing catch-up. The Openreach G.fast footprint is sitting at 1,658,999 premises an increase of 34,518 premises in the last month.
