New build homes October 2020 update on broadband options
Today we look at our updated figures for what is going on with new build homes with respect to broadband. The low volume of new properties seen in the January to July 2020 period that this data covers was covered on Thursday.
More new homes are appearing with full fibre as the default broadband option but the concern now is that there appears to be a levelling off and after all these years there are still homes being built with just ADSL or ADSL2+ access and speeds below 10 Mbps.
We are beginning to suspect based on what we saw when figuring out the coverage for each of the new postcodes that full fibre is the default for larger developments, but very small developments of 3 or 4 homes are those invariably missing out on superfast and full fibre options.
That homes are being built with less than 10 Mbps speeds by default when there is a broadband USO of 10 Mbps should be a major concern and every one of these is also making the Gigabit target harder to reach. Imagine what would happen if a developer was to build a house where the maximum mains load was only 3 amps and a standard kettle would not work.
Levels of superfast and full fibre coverage in UK new builds since 2012
| thinkbroadband analysis of Superfast, USC, USO and Full Fibre Broadband Coverage across the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and English regions for new build premises - figures 16th October 2020 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | % fibre based VDSL2 or FTTP or Cable | % superfast 30 Mbps or faster | % Ultrafast 100 Mbps or faster FTTP,cable,G.fast | % Full Fibre and Openreach FTTP | % Overlap between Openreach and another FTTP operator | % Under 2 Mbps download | % Below USO 10 Mbps download |
| UK 2020 60,183 premises |
98.5% | 97.5% | 88.2% | 87.1% 72.6% |
11.5% | 0.4% | 1.2% |
| UK 2019 193,478 premises |
98.3% | 97.3% | 87.6% | 85.8% 73.4% |
11% | 0.2% | 1% |
| UK 2018 217,046 premises |
97.1% | 96.2% | 78.7% | 75.8% 63.9% |
10.3% | 0.2% | 0.9% |
| UK 2017 167,809 premises | 95.5% | 94.6% | 60.2% | 52.2% 38.1% |
7.7% | 0.1% | 0.9% |
| East of England 2020 5,081 premises |
98.8% | 98.2% | 83.8% | 82.8% 53.3% |
2.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| East of England 2019 17,852 premises |
99% | 98% | 86.3% | 84.4% 64% |
9.2% | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| East Midlands 2020 1,882 premises |
97.8% | 97.6% | 90% | 89.9% 67.4% |
0% | 0% | 0.4% |
| East Midlands 2019 5,928 premises |
97.7% | 96.7% | 88.3% | 86.5% 76.6% |
4.7% | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| London 2020 14,102 premises |
99.3% | 99% | 93.3% | 92.3% 75.9% |
38.9% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| London 2019 32,093 premises |
98.2% | 96.8% | 89.5% | 86.3% 71.3% |
36.1% | 0% | 0.6% |
| North East 2020 948 premises |
92.9% | 91.2% | 80.2% | 79.3% 63.1% |
0% | 0.3% | 5.2% |
| North East 2019 7,047 premises |
98% | 97.2% | 81.6% | 79.4% 72.4% |
6.2% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| North West 2020 7,920 premises |
99.2% | 97.9% | 87.3% | 85.7% 83.6% |
8.9% | 0.8% | 1.5% |
| North West 2019 20,725 premises |
98.6% | 97.9% | 87.2% | 85.8% 83% |
9.7% | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| Northern Ireland 2020 1,109 premises |
99.8% | 98.3% | 92.8% | 91.2% 91.2% |
0% | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| Northern Ireland 2019 4,185 premises |
98% | 96.3% | 90.1% | 88.8% 88.8% |
0.8% | 0.4% | 1.4% |
| Scotland 2020 3,079 premises |
98.7% | 98.3% | 93.3% | 92.2% 81.6% |
0.6% | 0% | 0.1% |
| Scotland 2019 17,993 premises |
98.3% | 97.3% | 88.6% | 88% 82.6% |
5.5% | 0.4% | 1.3% |
| South East 2020 6,671 premises |
97.5% | 96% | 89.4% | 88.6% 63.3% |
6% | 0.7% | 2.3% |
| South East 2019 24,951 premises |
98.9% | 98.3% | 90.2% | 87.8% 68.5% |
7.7% | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| South West 2020 7,213 premises |
96.9% | 95.2% | 81.2% | 79.9% 59% |
0.4% | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| South West 2019 22,684 premises |
98.5% | 97.3% | 87.3% |
86.2% 69.9% |
1.7% | 0.4% | 1.2% |
| Wales 2020 1,303 premises |
98.8% | 96.9% | 82.7% | 81.2% 79% |
0% | 1.7% | 2.8% |
| Wales 2019 4,842 premises |
97.4% | 96.6% | 83.1% | 82.7% 72% |
0.4% | 0.2% | 2.8% |
| West Midlands 2020 5,238 premises |
98.8% | 98.1% | 86.4% | 85.5% 82.2% |
1.4% | 0.5% | 1.5% |
| West Midlands 2019 17,925 premises |
97.7% | 96.7% | 87.5% | 86.3% 74% |
5.2% | 0.2% | 1.4% |
| Yorkshire and Humber 2020 5,637 premises |
98.7% | 97.5% | 88.5% | 86.9% 79.1% |
1.2% | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| Yorkshire and Humber 2019 17,253 premises |
97.3% | 96.2% | 84.5% | 83.1% 72.7% |
5.6% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
You can count my new build flat as one with ADSL2+ as the only option! Built in 2017 with no Virgin media hookup (they would have to dig up the pavement to extend the cable that stops about 10 meters outside the flats). We even have the cab right outside the flat as well but hasn't been upgraded (1 of ten in the exchange area that hasn't) for.... reasons?