Brits zip along at 12Mbps

Average fixed broadband speeds in the UK are now up to 12Mbps, compared to 9Mbps in May 2012, according to new figures from communications regulator Ofcom.

Ofcom added that the rise in popularity of superfast connections from providers like BT and Virgin Media, as well as the incremental speed increases periodically introduced on these lines, is particularly helping to drive up the national average broadband speeds.

Perhaps most significantly of all, the proportion of UK residential fixed broadband connections that were superfast (above 30Mbps) more than doubled in the 12 months to November 2012, according to Ofcom, rising from 5 per cent of all connections to 13 per cent.

Furthermore, the great majority of broadband users (77 per cent of all connections) were on packages above 10Mbps in November 2012 – up from 58 per cent one year previously – with many customers being migrated to higher-speed packages at little or no additional cost to the consumer.

Average upload speeds also increased substantially in the six months to November 2012, according to Ofcom – good news for filer sharers and online gamers – with average speeds increasing 30 per cent from 1.1Mbps in May 2012 to 1.4Mbps in November 2012.