January 2021 update on broadband availability across the UK, nations and regions
The 97% superfast broadband target is a bit closer to being met with the coverage at over 24 Mbps standing at 96.9751%. We keep nibbling away at this target each day with the biggest contributors to meeting the target being Openreach FTTP and Gigaclear FTTP on most days.
The news that the North East has seen its FTTP coverage increase from 8.79% to 11.58% is encouraging but still leaves the region as the least served part of the UK for full fibre. Hopefully the builds from CityFibre and Openreach will continue at a pace that will let the region catch-up.
| thinkbroadband analysis of Superfast, USC, USO and Full Fibre Broadband Coverage across the UK, its nations and regions for premises In descending order of Gigabit coverage - figures 7th February 2021 (change since 7th January 2021) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | % full and partial fibre based i.e. VDSL2, G.fast or FTTP or Cable | % superfast 30 Mbps or faster | % Ultrafast 100 Mbps or faster FTTP, cable, G.fast | Gigabit | % Full Fibre All Providers Openreach and KCOM FTTP | % Under 2 Mbps download | % Below USO 10 Mbps download |
| Northern Ireland | 99.4% | 89.6% (+0.1) | 69.1% (+0.2) | 68.89% | 60.51% (+0.24) 54.41% (+0.47) |
3.9% | 6.7% (=) |
| 849,702 Premises | 844,225 | 760,923 | 587,421 | 585,331 | 514,122 462,342 |
33,467 | 56,967 |
| London | 98.4% | 97.6% (=) | 79.4% (+0.4) | 64.43% | 22.39% (+1.04) 9.38% (+0.32) |
0.1% | 0.5% (=) |
| 4,728,209 Premises | 4,654,160 | 4,614,326 | 3,754,164 | 3,046,256 | 1,058,527 4443,368 |
4,109 | 21,697 |
| West Midlands | 99.1% | 97.8% (=) | 74.2% (+0.4) | 49.64% | 17.5% (+0.56) 12.46% (+0.63) |
0.2% | 0.7% (=) |
| 2,949,717 Premises | 2,922,348 | 2,886,112 | 2,187,235 | 1,464,312 | 516,331 367,510 |
5,518 | 20,159 |
| Scotland | 98.1% | 94.6% (+0.1) | 57.4% (+1.4) | 45.9% | 18.38% (+1.39) 10.69% (+0.75) |
1.1% | 3.0% (-0.1) |
| 2,760,871 Premises | 2,709,135 | 2,611,574 | 1,585,195 | 1,267,372 | 507,421 286,956 |
31,336 | 83,785 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 98.9% | 97.3% (+0.1) | 68.3% (+1.3) | 37.87% | 26.08% (+0.4) 16.92% (+0.31) (includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.4% | 1% (=) |
| 2,720,479 Premises | 2,691,205 | 2,646,499 | 1,857,477 |
1,030,185 | 709,491 460,311 |
9,586 | 27,145 |
| United Kingdom | 98.8% | 96.7% (+0.1) | 65% (+0.7) | 38.21% | 20.04% (+0.85) 12.47% (+0.47) (includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.5% | 1.4% (=) |
| 30,636,038 Premises | 30,265,764 | 29,609,662 | 19,896,762 | 11,704,754 | 6,138,878 3,819,724 |
147,894 | 415,738 |
| Great Britain | 98.8% | 96.9% (+0.1) | 64.8% (+0.6) | 37.33% | 18.88% (+0.87) 11.27% (+0.46)(includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.4% | 1.2% (=) |
| 29,786,336 Premises | 29,421,539 | 28,848,739 | 19,309,341 | 11,119,423 | 5,624,756 3,357,382 |
114,427 | 358,771 |
| North West | 99.1% | 97.2% (+0.1) | 61.5% (+0.5) | 37.02% | 17.89% (+0.45) 13.42% (+0.33) |
0.4% | 1.1% (=) |
| 4,140,767 Premises | 4,102,875 | 4,024,447 | 2,545,752 | 1,532,736 | 740,873 555,522 |
16,951 | 45,272 |
| England | 98.9% | 97.2% (+0.1) | 66.9% (+0.5) | 37.02% | 18.92% (+0.83) 11.15% (+0.43)(includes KCom Lightstream) |
0.3% | 0.9% (-0.1) |
| 25,522,267 Premises | 25,237,842 | 24,805,958 | 17,076,328 | 9,447,936 | 4,828,851 2,845,563 |
72,600 | 238,111 |
| South East | 99.3% | 97.7% (=) | 65.9% (+1.1) | 31.67% | 17.72% (+1.3) 7.34% (+0.34) |
0.2% | 0.6% (-0.1) |
| 2,301,108 Premises | 2,284,977 | 2,248,833 | 1,516,039 | 728,826 | 407,796 168,857 |
3,779 | 14,615 |
| Wales | 98.1% | 95.2% (+0.1) | 43.1% (+0.6) | 26.88% | 19.19% (+0.63) 14.96% (+0.52) |
0.7% | 2.5% (=) |
| 1,503,198 Premises | 1,474,562 | 1,431,207 | 647,818 | 404,115 | 288,484 224,863 |
10,491 | 36,875 |
| East of England | 99% | 96.9% (+0.2) | 60.1% (+0.6) | 20.95% | 13.41% (+1.05) 8.09% (+0.87) |
0.3% | 1% (-0.1) |
| 2,778,217 Premises | 2,751,527 | 2,691,678 | 1,670,555 | 581,920 | 372,676 224,777 |
8,135 | 28,531 |
| South West | 98.5% | 95.6% (+0.1) | 56.5% (+0.6) | 20.56% | 19.48% (+0.77) 12.81% (+0.5) |
0.5% | 1.7% (-0.1) |
| 3,755,628 Premises | 3,700,925 | 3,591,598 | 2,122,481 | 772,151 | 731,607 481,254 |
20,247 | 65,675 |
| East Midlands | 99.4% | 97.9% (=) | 68.3% (+0.1) | 15.23% | 15.23% (+0.04) 8.36% (+0.04) |
0.2% | 0.6% (-0.1) |
| 1,172,589 Premises | 1,165,723 | 1,148,390 | 800,608 | 178,621 | 178,621 98,082 |
2,374 | 7,422 |
| North East | 98.8% | 97.8% (=) | 63.8% (+1.8) | 11.58% | 11.58% (+2.79) 4.7% (+0.44) |
0.2% | 0.8% (=) |
| 975,553 Premises | 964,102 | 954,075 | 622,017 | 112,929 | 112,929 45,882 |
1,901 | 7,593 |
As more FTTP operators emerge the amount of overlap is increasing at the UK wide level there is 1.433% of premises with the option of 2 or more FTTP operators. In terms of the overlap with Openreach this is at 1.05% i.e. Openreach FTTP and one or more other FTTP provider.
If all FTTP building was to stop and Virgin Media to switch on its DOCSIS 3.1 service everywhere it has DOCSIS 3.0 the Gigabit coverage figure would jump to 62.55%. Since the FTTP roll-outs are not going to suddenly stop then by the end of 2021 if Virgin Media keeps to its DOCSIS 3.1 schedule we should be looking at Gigabit coverage in the 65 to 70% region.
