UK’s slowest street gets 0.14 Mbps, but who’s fault actually is it?

New research from uSwitch suggests the slowest broadband in the UK is 0.14 Mbps, while 5% of the UK are not able to reach 5 Mbps, though this could be their own fault.

With the government aiming to have every available premise on 10 Mbps broadband speeds before too long, news such as this will come as a worry. But, to be fair to the government and and the telcos, there is only so much which can be done. Those who choose to have slow broadband cannot complain when they have slow broadband.

Broadband can be somewhat of a postcode lottery, though the research suggests that 35% of those individuals who are on the slowest streets do have superfast broadband services available to them. There will be a variety of reasons for not connecting their home to a faster broadband line, but there aren’t many people left to blame in this situation. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

“Recent Ofcom research has found that the average household is doubling its data consumption every two years, be it watching online video or accessing government services, and so adequate broadband is swiftly becoming vital,” said Jeremy Chelot, CEO of Community Fibre.

The slowest street for broadband across the UK was Greenmeadows Park in Bamfurlong, Gloucestershire, though this is one of the streets which did not have access to superfast broadband. Poplar Avenue in Oldham and Chesham Road in Wilmslow collect second and third place at the slow end of the table, with respective speeds of 0.221 Mbps and 0.249 Mbps, but in both of these cases superfast broadband is available.

Looking at the prices, for Poplar Avenue customers could get a Onestream Fibre Broadband deal, offering speeds of 38 Mbps for £19.95 per month, while TalkTalk offers 36 Mbps for £22.50 per month. The same deals are available in Chesham Road along with a host of others. If these prices are too high, there were also several other, lower priced, options for 11 Mbps contracts.

The telcos and government are clearly not blameless in many situations where connectivity is poor, but in some cases you have to question what more can be done. The service is available and affordable, but the residents are not plugging in.