Research of 3,500 UK residents through Censuswide says that the UK is doing a terrible job of internet connectivity
This is a claim made by a provider of full fibre network infrastructure – CityFibre – in response to research commissioned by them in July. One response from telecoms commentator, telecoms.com, has stated that although some of these claims are a little extreme although the research should not be ignored.
This research has uncovered a number of worrying trends which led to the conclusion that years of intentional underinvestment by Openreach is now holding back our ability keep pace with modern working trends and puts us at a clear disadvantage against global rivals. It also leads onto say that many years of misleading advertising which effectively positions a hybrid fibre and copper service as “fibre” risks undermining the UK’s ambitions for all homes and businesses to be connected to full fibre by 2033.
Some of the highlights of the research:
- Years of under investment is holding back our ability to keep pace with modern working trends and puts us further at risk of falling further behind global rivals.
- 78% of UK consumers feel slowed down and frustrated by their internet connection with the figure rising to 82% among homeworkers and 87% among young people.
- 36% of people polled say if they could work from home they would have a better work-life balance and reduce stress. However, connectivity barriers are preventing the UK from embracing it with 56% saying this.
- Providers continuing to advertise copper-based connections as “fibre” are leaving people confused about what’s on offer.
- UK has dropped to 35th in Global Internet speed rankings which, combined with misleading information, risks undermining the UK ambition for all homes and businesses to be connected to full fibre by 2033.
- Unfortunately for the UK, fewer than 4% of homes currently have a fibre connection, and that is using statistics from the government’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR). This 4% compares to 71% of homes in Spain and 89% of homes in Portugal.
The UK network no doubt is suffering from years of underinvestment and the claims of hybrid fibre/copper services to be a “fibre” service is doing nothing to help the cause of full fibre networks. Whilst this persists, the progress towards a full fibre UK by 2033 is looking wholly unrealistic. Without full fibre connectivity being made available to every home and business in the UK we will struggle to compete globally and met the demands of an increasingly flexible workforce. We fully support City Fibre and our other alternative providers in banging the drum for change.