An extra three million homes and businesses have been connected to superfast broadband

Recently, Adrian Baschnonga, Lead Telecoms Analyst at EY, commented on the rollout of superfast broadband in the UK:

“New figures showing that an extra three million homes and businesses have been connected to superfast broadband is further evidence of a successful national rollout program. Yet while 95% nationwide availability is on track for 2017, and the UK leads large European economies in terms of superfast broadband coverage and take up, there is more work to be done. Geographical availability of superfast broadband is far from uniform in the UK and a detailed approach still needs to be agreed on how best to connect the country’s most remote regions using alternative technologies.”

So just how does the UK’s superfast broadband penetration measure up? Back in July this year it was revealed that companies such as BT are rapidly moving customers and businesses to fibre. At that time, 41% of BT’s customers were on fibre, with more than 80% of the UK able to get the service.

BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said that BT is continuing to “invest heavily” in the UK’s superfast fibre broadband network.

“It now reaches around 80% of all UK premises and we will work with government to help take fibre broadband to 95% of the country by the end of 2017”, he added.

“Our technical trials of ultrafast broadband using G.fast are progressing well; we’re on target to start large-scale customer trials this summer.”

Furthermore, In Ofcom’s Infrastructure Report, published on 8 December 2014, the watchdog reported that the 78% of residential and small commercial premises in the UK are covered by next generation networks (with 75% of premises having a connection that can deliver more than 30Mbit/s).

In a recent survey ranking the UK’s top 10 cities for the rollout of superfast broadband, surprisingly London came in just seventh place with superfast coverage of 92.6 percent, with upload and download speeds of 26.8 Mbps and 6.9 Mbps.

Here are the top 10 UK cities in terms of superfast broadband speeds and coverage.

1. Bristol

Bristol, tops the list with overall superfast coverage of 97.2 percent.

This penetration gives it a download speed of 30.6 Mbps and upload of 5.4 Mbps.

2. Birmingham

Birmingham has superfast coverage of 95.2 percent. Downloads measure 27.3 Mbps and uploads at 4.8 Mbps.

3. Liverpool

Liverpool comes in third place with superfast coverage of 94.8 percent. The download speeds are 28 Mbps and upload are 5.8 Mbps.

4. Bradford

Bradford has 93.9 percent superfast coverage, allowing downloads at 25 Mbps and uploads at 4.7 Mbps.

5. Leeds

Leeds has superfast coverage of 93.5 percent. Download speeds are 24.6 Mbps while uploads are 5 Mbps.

6. Edinburgh

Superfast coverage is 93 percent, with download speeds of 27.1 Mbps and upload speeds of 5.1 Mbps.

7. London

London has superfast coverage of 92.6 percent, with upload and download speeds of 26.8 Mbps and 6.9 Mbps respectively.

8. Manchester

Manchester has superfast speeds of 91.9 percent, with downloads of 21.9 Mbps and uploads of 5.7 Mbps.

9. Glasgow

Superfast broadband coverage is 89.8 percent. Download speeds are 22.7 Mbps and upload speeds are 5.5 Mbps.

10. Sheffield

The fifth-biggest city in the UK has 83.7 percent superfast coverage, and download and upload speeds of 22.6 Mbps and 6.4 Mbps respectively.