Ofcom today published the results of its research into fixed-line broadband speeds in the UK and the results make for very interesting reading. In a nutshell, the report confirms what consumers have known for a long while – namely that the broadband speed you receive is inevitably quite a lot less than the advertised “up to” broadband speed. But the report provides statistically significant data for the first time as it is based on over 60 million service performance tests in over 1,600 broadband households between November 2008 and April 2009. It also allows a robust like-for-like comparison between broadband providers (ISPs).
The research found that there were big differences in the download speeds offered by providers, with speeds depending on the technology used to deliver broadband and the capacity of the provider’s network.
The key findings are:
Fibre optic broadband (from Virgin Media) delivered the fastest actual broadband speeds relative to advertised speeds, reflecting the fact that fibre optic broadband services do not suffer from a degradation in broadband speed relative to the distance from the telephone phone exchange.
DSL broadband providers relying on older ADSL 1 technology tended to offer the worst broadband speeds relative to the advertised speeds, with providers using the more sophisticated ADSL 2+ faring better. However ISPs using ADSL1 who invest in network capacity are able to deliver speeds as good as ADSL2+ operators
The resulting average broadband speed received by consumers in the UK in April 2009 was 4.1Mb/secs, which is just 57% of the average ‘up to’ headline speed of 7.1 Mb/sec. The average speed delivered to urban consumers was 4.6Mbit/s, compared to an average of 3.3Mbit/s delivered to rural consumers.
Actual broadband speeds received varied widely by service provider. Only 9% of the sample on 8Mb/sec headline packages received actual average speeds of over 6Mbit/s and around one in five (19 per cent) received, on average, less than 2Mb/sec.
All consumers experienced a slowdown in actual broadband speeds during peak evening hours (8-10pm), with speeds in this period around 20 per cent slower than over a 24-hour period as the effects of “contention” become most apparent.
The table below shows the average speeds received by for each ISP.
| ISP and package | Average speed |
|---|---|
| AOL (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 3.3 to 3.9Mbit/s |
| BT (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.2Mbit/s |
| O2 (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s)* | 4.1 to 5.1Mbit/s |
| Orange (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.5Mbit/s |
| Plusnet (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s)* | 3.8 to 4.9Mbit/s |
| Sky (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 4.0 to 4.7Mbit/s |
| TalkTalk (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.6Mbit/s |
| Tiscali (‘up to’ 8Mbit/s) | 3.2 to 3.7Mbit/s |
| Virgin Media(‘up to’ 10Mbit/s) | 8.1 to 8.7Mbit/s |
As the table shows, Virgin Media’s fibre optic broadband service comes top of the table with speeds averaging about 84% of the advertised speed. Tiscali’s DSL broadband service on the other hand comes bottom and manages to deliver only just over 40% of their advertised speed.
What is key therefore is to understand what sort of technology your preferred broadband provider is able to provide at your location, before signing up to a long contract. And that is where we can help! Our impartial advisers undertake a detailed technology check on your local telephone exchange in order to confirm what speed you are likely to receive from each different broadband service provider. So why not give us a call or visit us at http://www.simplifydigital.co.uk