BT tops fixed broadband performance ranking

The report was produced by MedUX, which describes itself as a leader in international fixed and mobile network testing and benchmarking. The report, which it claims is a ‘first of its kind’, had BT leading on fixed broadband network responsiveness, as well as taking home the ‘overall finest Quality of Experience (QoE)’ gong, with a score of 4.59 out of 5.

The benchmarking report measured service reliability, speed compliance, accessibility, throughput, streaming, data and OTT (over-the-top) experience results. BT achieved the most consistent experience (99.88% service reliability) after more than 900,000 tests to its network.

It claimed BT’s FTTC (Fiber-to-the-cabinet) customers enjoy the highest average download speed, reaching 60 Mbps, and that BT achieved the best performance for delivering web browsing (clocking a 99.92% success rate) and an ‘excellent gaming and streaming experience’ (with 99.78% and 99.99% success rates respectively).

On top of this, BT also provides the ‘finest experience’ benchmarked against comparable ISPs counterparts in countries such as Italy and Greece with predominant FTTC technology.

It wasn’t a comprehensive win for BT however – the report crowned Vodafone as most likely to match its service promises ‘with an average ratio of effective download speed versus what it advertised of 86%, a good mark when benchmarked against the European average of 72%’

It also concluded Vodafone and BT share the lead in network responsiveness and streaming experience, with less than a 0.5% difference in scores.

“We’re pleased to be providing another first of its kind study on UK connectivity,” said Rafael González CMO at MedUX. “This report builds upon the momentum from our UK and European-wide 5G quality of experience (QoE) reports, and the recently released Italian fixed broadband QoE study. It showcases the breadth of our benchmarking capabilities – providing unique insights into the state of European connectivity. As operators, regulators and industry bodies continue to have pivotal conversations on the state of connectivity, we look forward to seeing insights from our reports being used so networks can be optimised, improving the overall experience for end users.”

In terms of the extent of the UK’s fibre rollout, a separate report published in April by the Independent Networks Cooperative Association and analyst firm Point Topic claimed that the UK's alternative network builders have collectively rolled out fibre infrastructure to more premises than incumbent operator BT's Openreach unit. UK altnets had passed 12.9 million premises with fibre as of the end of 2023, compared with Openreach's 12.8 million, claimed the report.