Welcome:   Average Broadband Speed Up

Half the country can get superfast broadband apparently. Yet the national speed has only risen by 10% this year as people are simply not buying it. Nice to see that people are finally leaving Talk Talk though, after the years and years of public criticism from all sides:


Broadband watchdog Ofcom has released the results of a survey which shows that the average broadband speed in the UK has increased by 10% in 2011. In May this year the speed was measured at 6.8MB which is higher than the 6.2MB it was in November of 2010. In addition they have discovered that more than half of the UK's Internet users are signed up to packages which offer speeds in excess of 10MB. In April of 2009 this figure was just 8%. However Ofcom have reported that the gap between the haves and have nots when it comes to broadband speeds is widening further as is the difference between advertised and actual speeds. Ed Richards from Ofcom has commented that the research should encourage ISPs to invest further in high speed networks, however he points out that the advertising code of practise needs to be amended so that consumers can make more informed choices based on the ads they see.


Further research from Ofcom has also revealed that just 2% of UK homes and small businesses are taking advantage of super fast broadband speeds. This is despite half the country now having access to it via Virgin Media or BT. Virgin offers speeds of up to 50MB and in in the process of delivering speeds of up to 100MB, meanwhile BT Infinity offers up to 40MB. Both of these services is classed as Superfast. Ofcom have suggested that the slow uptake was due to the higher cost associated with these services. A premium of at least £5 is usually placed on the higher speeds. However it was revealed that households tended to cite value for money as being the reason they chose a superfast service.


It has emerged that the country's third largest broadband provider Talk Talk has lost customers once again this quarter. It now has just 4.17 million customers, 27,000 less than three months ago. This brings the total lost in the last nine months to 77,000. Talk Talk have blamed their problems on the migration of customers from Tiscali and that this process is now complete. Customer service should improve as a result. The company has already been forced top pay refunds and compensation to customers for incorrect billing and has come bottom when it comes to customer service surveys. The chief executive Dido Harding has commented that they are now reinforcing their position as the best value for money provider and that customers are interested in their innovative products.


Figures released this week have shown that Sky has added 174,000 more customers to their business with their broadband packages. 100,000 of these have taken the standalone Unlimited internet package. This makes Sky the UK's fastest growing internet service provider. Sky have pointed out that on average 77 new customers join Sky Broadband every hour of every day and that this has been the case since July 2006. The company has only allowed customers to take up their broadband without having a TV subscription since last summer and this has led to 100,000 extra customers.


The government has announced that it will no longer attempt to block access to sites which host copyright infringing material even though the idea was a key part of the Digital Economy Act. Vince Cable made the announcement this week after the policy was looked into by Ofcom. Last week, BT was asked by the High Court to block access to Newzbin2, a site which offers links to pirated material, after the provider was taken to court by the Motion Picture Association. Cable pointed out that the test case showed that that it was suitable for providers to have the right to go through the courts and for the existing Copyrights, Design and Patents Act to be used. Opponents to the DEA have suggested that there are still parts of it which need changing such as charging people £20 to appeal against a copyright infringement notice. † [last update: 04.08.11]

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