Ofcom’s spring 2024 study of UK fixed broadband and mobile coverage has reported that “full fibre” (FTTP) now reaches 62% of the UK (up from 57% in Sept 2023), while 80% are within reach of a gigabit-capable network (up from 78%) and 85-92% of premises can get an outdoor 5G signal from at least one operator (largely unchanged).
The regulator’s latest report is based on coverage and service availability information that has been received from both fixed line UK ISPs and mobile network operators as of January 2024, which is several months more recent than the September 2023 data used in their annual 2023 Connected Nations report.
Overall, the UK’s coverage of fixed “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) remains unchanged at 97%, while 18.7 million homes (62%) can now order a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) service via various networks (up from 57%).
Meanwhile, gigabit-capable (1Gbps+) services are now available to 80% of the UK or 24 million homes (up from 78%), which is higher than the FTTP figure because a lot of the gigabit connectivity has flowed from Virgin Media’s upgrade to their existing Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) network with DOCSIS 3.1 technology – there’s a lot of overbuild between HFC and FTTP in dense urban areas.
All of this work will help to support the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme, which aims to further improve the picture for gigabit speed connectivity by using state aid to target connectivity improvements toward the final 20% of hardest to reach premises (i.e. helping to extend gigabit coverage to at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 and then around 99% “nationwide” by 2030).
However, the number of premises that cannot get a “decent broadband” (10Mbps+) service is currently 57,000 (0.2% of the UK) – when you include delivery via wireless connections (i.e. 4G, 5G and fixed wireless access), which is down from 61,000 at the last update. The download speed of at least 10Mbps (1Mbps upload) also represents the core specification for the UK’s broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO).
Speaking of wireless services, 4G mobile networks have seen geographic coverage across all network operators (EE, Three UK, O2 and Vodafone) rise slightly to 81-88% (up from 80-87%). The new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) agreement should be starting to improve this, but it’s a very slow burn.
Finally, on 5G coverage, Ofcom states that some 85-92% of UK premises can now get outdoor coverage by at least one operator (oddly this compares with 85-93% at the last update), but this collapses to just 16-28% when looking at outdoor coverage by all operators combined (up from 16-25%). Suffice to say, there’s still a lot of work to do.
Spring 2024 Coverage Data by Region
The following table summarises the latest mobile and fixed broadband coverage figures for Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland individually, although you can get a bit more detail by checking the full Spring 2024 Update.
UK Fixed Broadband Coverage
Access to full fibre
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
48%
52%
57%
62%
England
47%
51%
56%
62%
Northern Ireland
89%
90%
91%
92%
Scotland
46%
49%
53%
58%
Wales
45%
50%
55%
61%
Access to Gigabit-capable services
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
73%
75%
78%
80%
England
75%
76%
78%
81%
Northern Ireland
90%
91%
92%
94%
Scotland
68%
69%
72%
75%
Wales
57%
60%
64%
69%
Access to superfast services
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
97%
97%
97%
97%
England
97%
97%
98%
98%
Northern Ireland
96%
97%
98%
98%
Scotland
95%
95%
95%
96%
Wales
96%
96%
96%
96%
Access to at least 10 Mbit/s services
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
99%
99%
99%
99%
England
99%
99%
99%
99%
Northern Ireland
98%
98%
99%
99%
Scotland
98%
98%
98%
98%
Wales
98%
98%
98%
98%
UK Mobile Network Coverage (4G)
Premises (outdoor) – coverage range across MNOs
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
England
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
Northern Ireland
97-99%
98-99%
98-99%
98-99%
Scotland
97-99%
98-c.100%
98-c.100%
98-c.100%
Wales
96-99%
96-99%
96-99%
96-99%
sdf
Geographic area – coverage range across MNOs
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
80-87%
80-87%
80-87%
81-88%
England
92-94%
92-95%
92-95%
92-95%
Northern Ireland
88-92%
88-92%
88-92%
89-92%
Scotland
57-75%
58-76%
59-76%
60-78%
Wales
74-85%
74-85%
73-85%
74-87%
UK Mobile Network Coverage (5G)
Premises (outdoor) covered by at least one operator
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
73-82%
76-85%
85-93%
85-92%
England
76-85%
79-88%
87-94%
87-93%
Northern Ireland
48-55%
54-60%
70-80%
72-79%
Scotland
62-73%
66-76%
80-88%
79-87%
Wales
49-61%
53-65%
72-83%
74-82%
Premises (outdoor) covered by all operators
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24
UK
12-22%
12-22%
16-25%
16-28%
England
13-23%
14-24%
17-27%
17-30%
Northern Ireland
5-12%
5-12%
8-18%
7-17%
Scotland
7-17%
8-19%
11-22%
11-24%
Wales
5-8%
4-8%
6-10%
6-10%