York sees biggest improvement in broadband speeds, claims survey

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New research from comparethemarket.com reveals that York has seen the biggest improvement in broadband speeds over the last twelve months.

The research analysed the average broadband speed for locations around the UK from 2020, including all London boroughs, to discover where internet connectivity has improved the most in the last year. As well as revealing where the biggest improvements have been made, the research also identified the areas where broadband falls below Universal Service Obligation (USO) standards.

York was revealed as the UK destination which has seen the biggest improvement in download speeds, increasing from 56.1 Mbit/s in 2019 by 91 Mbit/s to 147.1 Mbit/s in 2020. It was followed by Kingston upon Hull (improvement of 31.6 Mbit/s) and Peterborough (20.6 Mbit/s increase in speed).

Of all the speeds recorded, Kingston upon Hull (163Mbit/s), York (147.1Mbit/s) and West Dunbartonshire (105.3Mbit/s) take the top three places. Kingston upon Hull has consistently maintained high speeds.

In London, each borough saw an improvement in download speeds compared to 2019, with Barking and Dagenham seeing the biggest improvement in download speeds, with increasing speeds of 14.9 Mbit/s since 2019. Of all the boroughs in London, Richmond upon Thames has been recorded as having the fastest average speed, nearly reaching 100 Mbit/s.

This was followed by Kingston upon Thames (93.2 Mbit/s) and Waltham Forest (90.3 Mbit/s).

When it comes to slowest speeds recorded, the Orkney Islands (33.2Mbit/s), Shetland Islands (34.7Mbit/s) and West Devon (36.9Mbit/s) were the worst three places in the country. In fact, the Orkney Islands have consistently recorded the lowest average speeds for the past three years.

Says Holly Niblett, head of digital at comparethemarket.com:

“With the UK back in lockdown, internet connectivity is more important than ever, whether it be for working from home or streaming movies and TV shows. While it is encouraging that broadband speed has improved in some parts of the country, there is still some way to go.

 “Whilst the government recently pledged to increase broadband infrastructure spending, there are still hundreds of thousands of homes without decent broadband and the vast majority of these are in remote areas. With a significant number of people now working from home, lack of connectivity could be a serious cause for concern.

The research can be seen in full here: https://www.comparethemarket.com/broadband/content/british-broadband-index/

Rank Name County 2019 Average download speed (mbit/s) 2020 Average download (mbit/s) Average download speed improvement (mbit/s)
1 York North Yorkshire 56.1 147.1 91
2 Kingston upon Hull East Riding of Yorkshire 131.4 163 31.6
3 Peterborough Cambridgeshire 77.8 98.4 20.6
4 Stockton-on-Tees County Durham 82.1 100.3 18.2
5 Middlesbrough North Yorkshire 80.1 98.1 18

 

The top five areas with the quickest download speeds in 2020

Rank Name County 2020 Average download (Mbit/s)
1 Kingston upon Hull East Riding of Yorkshire 163
2 York North Yorkshire 147.1
3 West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire 105.3
4 Corby Northamptonshire 104.4
5 North East Lincolnshire Lincolnshire 104.2

 

The top five areas with the slowest download speeds in 2020

 

Rank Name County 2020 Average download (Mbit/s)
1 Orkney Islands Orkney Islands 33.2
2 Shetland Islands Shetland Islands 34.7
3 West Devon Devon 36.9
4 Highland Highland 37
5 Mid Devon Devon 37.2

 

London broadband

The top five London boroughs with the biggest broadband improvements

Rank Borough Average download speed improvement 2019/2020 (Mbit/s)
1 Barking and Dagenham 14.9
2 Waltham Forest 14.5
3 Newham 14.4
4 Enfield 13.5
5 Redbridge 13.1

 

The top five London boroughs with the quickest download speeds in 2020

Rank Borough 2020 Average download (Mbit/s)
1 Richmond upon Thames 94
2 Kingston upon Thames 93.2
3 Waltham Forest 90.3
4 Merton 90.2
5 Sutton 90.1

 

The top five London boroughs with the slowest download speeds in 2020

Rank Borough 2020 Average download (Mbit/s)
1 City of London 31.6
2 Westminster 45.3
3 Tower Hamlets 53.7
4 Hammersmith and Fulham 58.5
5 Southwark 64.8

 

 

Chris Price
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